Shadow & Shroud
by Overt Concerns
Summary: Shadow Stalker - Sophia Laborn - is a member of the Wards and dedicated to upholding law and order in the chaotic city of Brockton Bay. Follow her as she struggles to come to terms with her position on the team as her older brother, Brian, continues to venture out in his own costumed identity: Grue, leader of the villainous Undersiders. Alternate Universe/Perspective Character.
1. Chapter 1

_The dark-clad figure wheeled on the spot, streamers of thick black smoke rolling off of him as he attempted to cover his team-mates. The bolt was already in the air, and she could only watch as her own shadow wore off. It clipped the lamp-post a few metres in front of him, and shattered. She'd been aiming high, of course - why was he yelling? Why had he fallen over? Fuck, was that_ blood?

Sophia shook herself like a wet dog and clenched her jaw together. The report in front of her lay half-completed, but focusing on it was... difficult. She picked up the pen again, thinking hard about what to say. She'd called in the meeting, of course, that was standard procedure, but afterwards she'd stated the Undersiders were in retreat and that was it. Even with her particular method of getting across town it took her half an hour to get back to base, half an hour of nerve-wracking uncertainty. Was he dead? Had she killed him?

Her hand shook slightly as she penned a few brief words. Fortunately, her own cover worked for her here, and the terse tone of the report would be written off as her usual self. Hell, she'd even made it clear she disliked Grue, some bullshit about powers interacting, and any time anyone asked her about him she'd start swearing the air blue. Another shake of the head, and she decided she'd had enough. The chair nearly clattered to the floor as she stood, flicking still-damp hair from her eyes, and made her way for the exit.

"Shadow Stalker!"

Fucking Armsmaster. Always sticking his nose in places it didn't belong. She schooled her features into the nigh-permanent scowl and rounded on him aggressively. No need to let on how nervous she was, no need to show him how unsteady her hands were.

Her leader strode up to her, and opened his mouth. "You reported a-"

"Here," she interrupted, shoving the small sheaf of papers into his breastplate and forcing him to fumble for them. "All in there. I'm going home."

"Now listen here, Shadow-"

She glared at him. "I said I'm done. I saw the Undersiders mid-whatever the fuck they were doing and moved to intercept like a good little hero. What more do you fucking want?" She said nothing about how it'd been part of the plan, a carefully orchestrated series of events to help the PRT view her as a hero, separate Grue from Shadow Stalker. God knew the similarities were there for all to see.

"Less attitude."

Hah. Sophia bit back a laugh, knowing full well Armsmaster wouldn't understand why she was laughing. That was almost good enough to be considered a one-liner, and everyone on the base knew he hadn't got anything close to a sense of humour.

"Whatever," she muttered. "What do you want?"

He looked at her in silence for a moment, a look that she'd come to recognise as the one he gave when accessing something in that stupid visor system of his he never took off. After a moment, he blinked and seemed to refocus. "There were reports of Grue leaving the scene injured, relying on his team-mate Regent for support. Did you see what happened?"

"He was pumping that shitty black smoke of his all over the place, I could barely see a damn thing." A bead of sweat ran down the back of her neck, and she quietly prayed to Gods she no longer believed in that he'd leave it at that.

"Hmm," was all he said, eyes already directed at the papers in his hand. "Well, if that's all you saw, I see no reason to detain you further. Your issues with Grue are... well known, but that does not give you an excuse to deviate from your patrol route without getting Console permission first. See that you remember that in future. Good day."

Sophia watched him for several seconds as he strode - the man never did anything less purposeful like walk or stroll - down the corridor and out of sight. Taking a long moment to steady herself, drawing a shaky breath, she started after him. At the intersection at the end, she turned right towards the exit where he'd gone left.

It'd been almost forty-five minutes. Three quarters of an hour she'd spent in an agony of not knowing. It was all she could do not to run for the lobby.

* * *

The rhythm of movement helped to calm her nerves, as it always did. Sophia ducked under a large conduit before vaulting off the edge of the roof and shifting into intangibility, thankful for the cover of darkness that'd keep her illicit use of her powers secret from the PRT. As she solidified on the next roof over, feet already in motion, she checked her position against the Medhall tower downtown, and angled slightly further to the right.

Public transport wasn't quick enough. She had to get there, had to know he was alright. It had been torture to step onto the bus outside the PRT building, waiting that long long five minutes for the next stop before she almost flew out of the door past startled passers-by and vanished into the settling gloom. Another five minutes spent not knowing.

The next gap was wider, so instead of merely shifting into her shadow state at the last moment Sophia broke into a dead sprint. Track had been a good call, another way of getting out all of her aggression in a safe environment where no one could get hurt. That'd been his idea, too - he was good like that.

And he might be dead.

She nearly stumbled as the thought settled into her mind, but caught herself at the last moment and jumped. At the apex of her leap she shifted again and drifted through the air, crossing tens of metres before finally starting to drift downwards. The moment the roof's edge was beneath her feet, she shifted back, grunting painfully as she dropped the two and a half metres to the ground and rolled.

At the next roof, Sophia simply stepped out into open space and dropped the twenty metres to the floor, a last-minute push of her power allowing herself to explode into a cloud of shadow that rapidly coalesced back into her human form. One more street, and then she'd know. It was too dangerous for him to contact her whilst she was in the PRT building, and it was also too risky for her to take her other phone with her on patrols. Any contact they had was outside of her duties as a Ward, the way they'd planned right back at the start.

She still hated it.

The next corner brought the heavy-duty, if a bit rusty, workshop doors into sight and Sophia finally let herself slow, breath coming in ragged gasps. Her fist had barely managed the first knock when the door was dragged open and a freckle-faced blonde reached out and dragged her through.

"He's fine, he's fine! Sophia, listen to me!" Lisa shook her, and Sophia finally focused on her.

Growling, she grabbed the girl by the shoulders. "Where is he? Don't fuck about, where? He's okay? I didn't- I... He's..?"

Sophia wasn't a girl easily given to crying. She even prided herself on her bad-bitch attitude and tough-girl persona - unlike most of the other things, that had been her idea. But at that moment in time, she didn't care. Lisa awkwardly wrapped an arm around her as she started to sob, gesturing with her free hand to Alec. He dragged the door shut behind them as she guided Sophia further inside.

"He's injured, yeah - the bolt shattered on the lamp post and a shard of it went straight through the biker leathers and into his side. Bled a lot but I took a first aid course a couple of months back and my power helped me fill in the blanks. He'll be okay, just needs to rest for a little bit."

Sophia finally nodded, accepting her words but still not quite believing it. "I... I want to see him."

"Sure," Lisa nodded, shooting Alec a look. The foppish-looking boy just shrugged.

"Last I went up he was fine, just in a lot of pain. You know how the boss-man is-... uh, ignore me, actually."

Sophia felt tears threatening to break free again as her guide glared at Alec. "Not helping, idiot. Stay down here where you can hit your head against the wall or something."

They made their way to the back of the warehouse and up the creaking metal stairs. It'd been a few weeks since Sophia had been here, and despite her current state she couldn't help but notice the improvements. A three piece white leather sofa set had been moved into the living area, and a huge TV-...

Brian lay on the largest couch, several panels stained crimson. She broke free from Lisa in an instant, shifting to shadow state in her haste to get to his side.

"Brian! Fuck, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean- I was aiming high, it should never have... fuck..."

He laughed, wincing in pain slightly, before reaching out and enveloping her in a one-armed hug despite how much it must have hurt. "Hey, it's fine, I'm fine, I'm still here, okay? Soph, listen to me! I'm alright, really."

She shook her head, dashing away more tears. Behind her, Lisa subtly withdrew, but neither of them really noticed. "No, it's not okay! I nearly killed you, Brian! My own fucking brother, and I nearly... nearly-"

"But you didn't," he interrupted her. "I'm fine, just going to have to take it easy for a week or two whilst I heal up properly. Lisa's even rung for a cape doctor, some guy who knows to keep his mouth shut at the right times. You're always telling me to take less jobs anyway, at least you got your wish, right?"

"That is not funny," Sophia growled. "You might be injured but I can still beat your ass for making inappropriate comments like that."

Brian nodded. "Yeah... yeah, sorry. Not thinking straight, Lisa had me dose up on some really strong painkillers. No, hey!" He raised a hand placatingly as her lower lip started to wobble again. "It's nothing, Sophia it's fine. You've hurt me more than this when you and Aisha teamed up on me because I came home late the first night out in costume, remember?"

That got a laugh. "Yeah, I remember. Uh, speaking of Aisha... Are you gonna...?"

"No." Brian locked gazes with her levelly. It'd always been their one point of disagreement with the whole set-up. Their younger sister hadn't triggered, unlike the two of them, and despite Sophia's reasoning that they should include her in everything they were doing Brian had remained steadfastly against the idea.

Shaking her head, Sophia sighed. "You're more fucking stubborn than I am, you know that?"

He waved her off. "Yeah, yeah. Go bug the others for a bit, kay? I'm the wounded war hero here and all these drugs are... are making me feel kinda... tired." As if to punctuate his words, he broke into a large yawn. "Go on, go talk to Lisa. She said she wanted to drop round in the week sometime to talk to us both anyway."

Sophia knew when her brother wanted her around and when he didn't. It was a point of pride for him that he was the strong one, the older brother who looked out for his two little sisters. Even letting her see him like this was probably hurting him just as much as the wound in his side, but he was a good brother.

"Alright."

Standing, she made her way out of the main living space and headed for the stairs. At the top, she hesitated for a long moment before turning back to him. Despite the well-muscled arms and broad shoulders, Brian looked... vulnerable.

"Love you, bro," she choked out, before fleeing downstairs to the others.

Brian shook his head slowly, a small smile on his lips. "Love you too little sis."


	2. Chapter 2

With a last glance at the slip of paper Brian had given her a week ago, Sophia crumpled it up and found a nearby trashcan to dump it in. When it came to keeping her brother secret, there were no lengths she wasn't prepared to go to. The building in front of her was imposing, over ten stories high and in one of the nicer areas of town, something that the social services would have taken note of. As she approached the glass doors, they buzzed, causing her to hesitate. On the other side, the receptionist waved her in.

"Your brother said you'd be dropping by today, Miss Laborn. You are Miss Laborn?"

Huh. Swanky service. "Yeah, that's me. Thanks."

The elevators were in the corner of the lobby, and after a ten second wait the leftmost one dinged open for her. Unfortunately, the 'nicer area of town' didn't cross over into a better selection of elevator music, but Sophia bore it out stoically, finding a little amusement in the fact Brian would have to listen to that every time he wanted to leave or return to his flat. Actually, knowing Brian, he probably took the stairs.

By the time the elevator dinged again, Sophia was drumming her fingers against her leg in agitation. She didn't like enclosed spaces much, and the awful funky-jazzy music wasn't helping. Stepping out into the corridor, she looked both ways before setting off left at the behest of a sign giving directions. This place is actually pretty large, she mused, taking a right hand turn at another intersection before halting outside a door marked 215.

"Coming!" Her brother's voice sounded distant and slightly surprised, like she'd caught him off-guard. Sophia grinned, and channelled Aisha - maybe she was interrupting something. A few moments later the door opened to reveal Brian, topless and sweating. "Hey Soph, come in."

She did so. The hallway was nicely furnished, if a little spartan, but Brian didn't linger, leading her through into the kitchen-cum-dining area that must have filled most of the floor plan.

"Nice," Sophia said, a little begrudgingly. She still lived at home or at the Wards base, and Brian knew how much she hated that. "How much did it cost you?"

He looked up from where he was rummaging in the fridge. "A fair amount, but it's worth it. Three bedrooms too, so you're welcome to crash here every now and then if you really have to. Coke?"

"Diet, if you've got it." She accepted the proffered can in silence, hoping her stony visage would hide just how much him setting aside a room for her meant. Brian chuckled, so she must have failed, but didn't comment.

The next hour was spent in companionable quiet as Sophia worked her way through some homework before watching a little TV. She treasured times like this, where it wasn't just business and she got to spend time with her actual brother and not Grue, the cape moniker he was increasingly growing into. Brian spent some of the time boxing - the rigorous training regime their father had helped him devise took back-seat to nothing, not even Sophia - before plopping himself down on the couch next to her.

"So, how's Aisha been? It's been a busy week and I haven't really had a chance to call her up or anything."

She made a so-so gesture. "You know what she's like - causing trouble every opportunity she gets. New boyfriend is an asshole too, but I distract him every time he starts throwing glances in her direction. I do my best to keep her out of trouble, you know that."

He smiled, bumping shoulders with her. "I do, and you know how much it means to me that you look after her when I can't, Soph."

"She's my sister too," she half-protested, flicking between two films as she tried to decide which one she hated less. "I don't just do it for you."

"You know you'd spend as much time away from home as you could if I hadn't asked you," he grinned to show he was joking before settling himself more comfortably. "Lisa will be over in a bit."

Sophia grimaced. "Pah. I thought this was supposed to be family time?"

"Yeah," he smiled ruefully. "It was, but she wanted to go over your patrol routes and you know how hard it is to keep secrets from her. She worked out you were coming over today and invited herself round."

She huffed, but said nothing more. Lisa had always rubbed her the wrong way, never knowing when to stop running her mouth or digging for secrets. That being said... ever since the incident that ended with Brian laid out on the couch for two weeks recovering from a wound she'd given him, the Thinker had been less... well, less Lisa-like. She couldn't work out what had changed, but Lisa treated Sophia with a little more respect and kindness than she had before.

The sound of someone knocking broke the pair from their reverie, and Brian rose. "That'll be her, I guess."

"Yeah, yeah, go let her in," Sophia grunted, giving him a little shove to show him she wasn't really that pissed. Family time was rare, yeah, but business had to come first. It was a dangerous game the pair of them were playing, and for all her failings the freckle-faced irritant was instrumental in making sure it worked as smoothly as it did. For that, and for that alone, Sophia tolerated her.

How Brian put up with being her team-mate, however, was something she could never understand.

* * *

"... oh, and I'm patrolling with Gallant in two days time, so keep out of trouble then."

Lisa nodded, fingers a blur as she typed up the various tidbits of information Sophia had given her. It was a well-rehearsed setup by now: she'd give them the latest passwords, fill in the blanks that Lisa's power couldn't or give the missing piece she needed to work something out, and in return Lisa gave her a few useful addresses or names to check out.

"Gotcha, we'll steer clear. Wish the Wards didn't have an emotion-reader but what can you do, hmm?"

Brian sighed. "Stop hinting, Lisa. Sophia said she wouldn't give any names and I agree with her; that's heat we really don't need coming down on our heads."

"Awh," the Thinker whined, looking up from her laptop. "But bribes make things so much easier, and that's without blackmail. We've got the perfect in and we aren't using it!"

"You survive because you're small fry," Sophia put in. "No offence, but you guys get less attention than the big gangs because you don't up your game too much, you stick to the stuff you're best at. Start looking for names and you'll go onto the list big time, and I can't fucking keep Piggy off your head if you start blackmailing people. That's just dumb."

Lisa sighed. "Yeah, but it'd be fun. Fine, fine, you win... again. No going after names. Anything else before I get my list of addresses up for this week?"

"Uhm," Sophia hesitated. There was. "I think the PRT is getting suspicious."

"What?" Brian jerked upright like someone had electrocuted him. "Of you?"

Lisa shook her head, looking at her pensively. "No, not of her specifically. I've seen some indicators in the stuff you helped me get access to, but the most they're saying is that they think the Undersiders have a 'sponsor with access to classified information' or 'an inside source'. They'll be checking carefully though. Damn."

"You can say that again," Brian ground out. Sophia tried not to notice the way his fists had clenched; Brian was an over-protective big brother to a fault, and at the start he'd argued against her joining the Wards completely. It was Lisa's idea, backed by Sophia herself, and he'd still not acquiesced easily. "What do we do?"

"I'll be more careful," she began, but Lisa raised a hand to cut her off.

"We'll have to arrange another 'spontaneous encounter'. Maybe this time Alec can tase you, knock you out of the fight? Hmm, they might be suspicious of that, actually - how'd he know the exact counter to your power? Wait, no - they know he uses a taser, so if we set it up right we could move some suspicion off of you. We'll have to do more, of course..."

She tailed off, staring into space. Brian gestured for Sophia to stay quiet - this was her 'power' face, the one she pulled when she was letting her ability off the leash and risking migraines in the process. The last thing she needed was an angry Sophia yelling at her.

After a minute, Lisa shook her head. "I've got a few ideas but for now we'll go with Alec and Rachel bumping into you on a patrol, and Alec can tag you. Make sure to make it as believable as possible, okay?"

Sophia glowered at the direction. Of course she'd make it believable! Brian asked a few more questions, but Lisa managed to calm him down and assure him his little sister would be as safe as always.

The next half hour was spent carefully memorising five addresses and descriptions of one or two people to look out for at each one. Sophia hated it, but these tip-offs were the real reason she was off probation with the Wards, not her 'good behaviour'. As much as she passed it off to Armsmaster and Piggy as being good at recon ops because she was nearly impossible to spot in the dark, it was Lisa who guided her like a missile to the right places at the right time.

That was how it went. Sophia worked on the right side of the law to help remove things that the Undersiders couldn't deal with themselves, and at the same time helped to keep her big brother safe. Brian, for all his muscle and brains, had a tendency to take responsibility upon himself, and Sophia knew as well as Lisa did that he put himself at risk if he thought it'd keep his team, or his family, safe. This was her way of doing her part in return.

Sophia glanced at her watch. Almost time to go, she had a patrol in an hour.

"I better start heading. Don't do anything stupid til I see you next, okay?"

Brian stood up as well, wrapping her in a brief but bone-breaking hug. "Same to you, Soph. Same time next week? We could go for a meal, bring Aisha along..."

"Yeah," she nodded. "I think we'd both like that."

Lisa glanced up from her screen, a thoughtful look on her face, but thankfully she kept her mouth shut about whatever it was she'd learnt from that last line. Sophia internally sighed - she'd love the mouthy blonde to give her an excuse to hit her, but Lisa knew that just as much as she did.

"Later," was the only thing the other girl said before turning back to her work.

With a grunt, she gave Brian one last hug and made for the door. She still had plenty of time to make it to the PRT building, more the pity; shadow-running was the best method of relaxation she'd found short of beating the ever-living shit out of a deserving gang banger.

Oh well. Can't have everything in life.

* * *

Sophia ground her teeth together, and waited.

The most annoying thing about Gallant, she decided, was not the emotion-reading ability or the golden boy attitude he always had, oh no. It was the fact that he was slow. So mind-numbingly, irritatingly slow. But then again, he was the most likely to cotton on to what she was doing in the Wards, so maybe the emotion-reading was about equal for most annoying thing, especially in light of the PRT's recent suspicions about the Undersiders. She shook her head to clear that line of thought as her earpiece crackled.

" _I get it, I get it! I'm going as fast as I can._ "

She growled softly to herself before keying the mic. "I've told you I don't fucking like it when you do that."

"And I've told you I can't help it," the other Ward replied, finally pulling himself up onto the roof with her. Normally the pair of them would patrol together but slightly separate, with him on the ground and her on the rooftops serving as some kind of overwatch for trouble too distant for him to detect, but about five minutes ago he'd told her to wait up so he could join her.

"Whatever. So?"

Sophia turned and started walking towards the next roof over. This was an area where Gallant could actually move around on the roofs with relative ease thanks to the boost his armour gave him, so she didn't have to worry about losing him. As much as I'd like that.

"Heh, there's the Sophia I recognise," he mumbled, moving to catch up. "Nothing, I just thought we could have a chat. See how you're doing and stuff now you're a full member. You know, things team-mates do."

Sophia didn't have to worry about him seeing the light flush his words caused, but she battled with her emotions to keep him from seeing it in her 'emotioscape', as he liked to call it. "Sure."

He sighed and followed her across a narrow gap onto the next roof along. "That means you're supposed to do some of the talking too, you know. It's just..."

"Just what?" Sophia growled, wheeling on him. Gallant quickly raised his hands placatingly.

 _Fuck, hope I didn't just give the game away._

"No no, not anything bad. It's just I... well, I've noticed how you've mellowed out recently. You were pretty antagonistic - sorry - when you joined up but over the last couple of months you've been better. I was just wondering what changed."

Sophia let herself relax, hand moving away from the crossbow at her hip. "I dunno," she replied, turning away and starting off again. "Just been feeling a lot better recently."

Dean waited for her to continue, suit of armour clanking in the silence as he kept pace with her.

"Fine, I like being part of the team," she finally all but spat, knowing that was what he wanted to hear. "Nice to know someone's got my back, you know?"

In truth, it was the fact she was finally managing to get results in keeping Brian safe, that people were starting to listen to her when she said 'I think we should check this place out'. Maybe her whole attitude thing hadn't been the brightest idea ever; people took longer to trust her, and she knew she was still the least-liked member of the team. _Am I more suspicious because of my attitude? Damn, I should have thought about this more._

"That's good," Gallant replied, and Sophia just knew he'd be smiling that genuine smile of his. How the hell is he always so... nice?! "Carlos mentioned to me he's thinking of moving you into a more important role as recon, by the way. We do notice when you put the work in, Sophia."

She just nodded. Internally, she was cheering. At last! They - at least, the Wards - were finally really starting to trust her, and she'd have even more opportunity to lead them to places that needed dealing with. For all that she cared about Brian and wanted to keep him safe, Sophia had to admit there was something awfully therapeutic about using her powers to beat the shit out of some punks. That she was a Ward and said punks had to be on the other side of the law? Well, that wasn't really a problem. Less people like Steven in the world was a plus, as far as she cared.

All she needed to do now was shake any suspicions the higher-ups had.

"Guess I'll tell him you like the idea," Dean chuckled. She flipped him the bird, but chuckled along with him.

 _Dean's nice. Maybe I can actually start to enjoy this whole 'team' thing if they're gonna work with me_. The rest of the patrol passed in silence, but unlike so many times before it was companionable and not because she was refusing to talk to them.

Inside his armour, Dean smiled. _Finally, I'm getting through to her. I just wish I knew why she was so nervous around me._


	3. Chapter 3

"Fuck!"

The door slammed open and Sophia limped through, throwing her mask in the general direction of the couches and ignoring the concerned look Carlos shot her from the console. The door between her and the showers fared little better, crashing open as she barged through, overloading the automatic compensators Armsmaster had installed to prevent just such a thing from occurring.

As she started tugging off the top of her costume, revealing the plain black sports top beneath, Missy poked her head around the door. She was sans mask which meant no blonde wig, allowing her brown hair to tumble everywhere in a messy mane, but the rest of her costume flashed green in the harsh light of the locker room.

"Uhm… is everything okay, Sophia?"

She angrily slammed the locker door open and dumped the nest of black fabric inside, turning with a grunt. "Regent fucking tasered me."

"Oh," Missy mumbled, eyes wide. "Are…"

"I'm fine!" Sophia took a deep breath, and then repeated herself in a calmer tone of voice. "I'm fine. Fucker tripped me and then tased me. Hurts like a bitch."

She could sense the younger girls disapproval as she swore again whilst trying to strip the second layer of leggings off. Try as she might, Sophia couldn't quite bring herself to tug the leathers away from what she knew was going to be a nasty welt. The taser had gone right through the thin protection.

"Shit…" She allowed her head to fall back against the metal behind her before cocking an eyebrow at Missy, who was still watching her cautiously. "What are you looking at, squirt? Wanna do something helpful?"

For a moment, it looked like the other Ward would shake her head, but she eventually jerked her head once. Sophia frowned, trying to work out how best to phrase her next question.

"Can… shit this is gonna sound weird… can you help me get these leggings off?"

Silence.

"Uhm."

Sophia rolled her eyes. "Not like that, this isn't one of Dennis's weird fantasies. Regent… tased my..."

"Your what?"

"My ass…" Sophia mumbled, her dark skin flushing slightly.

Missy stepped closer tentatively. "I can't hear you."

"MY ASS, FUCK! HE TASED MY FUCKING ASS!" Sophia yelled, before immediately covering her mouth. It was too late. She slumped backwards in defeat as the doors from the common room slowly opened a crack and a mop of red hair poked through.

"The mighty Huntress returns! And what's this I'm hearing about- hey!"

Missy smirked, but a moment later the door slammed shut to the sound of a startled yell, and space quickly reverted to its normal dimensions. "I'll help. Um…"

The next few minutes were spent in an awkward dance until the smaller girl finally gave up and yanked the tight-fitting leggings down, prompting a hiss of pain from Sophia.

"Jeeeezus, watch it!"

Missy eyed her quizzically. "Stop being such a baby."

She contemplated swearing at the girl, but decided against it. With a grunt of thanks, the leggings hit the back of the locker and Sophia turned away, raising a hand in a half-assed wave to Missy before heading for the girl's showers.

* * *

Console duty. If there was one thing Sophia wished she'd known about before signing on with the Wards, it was console duty. As boring as Dean was slow, all it entailed was sitting at a desk in front of three large screens and a keyboard with a headset on, listening to the occasional burst of chatter from whoever was out on patrol at the time.

For two and a half hours straight.

Rolling her shoulders to try and put off the inevitable cramp, Sophia slowly pushed herself off of the desk and sat up straight. Apart from her, the common room was empty; Kid Win was somewhere on the base, but as usual he was tinkering, and Vista had gone home early. Sighing quietly, she dragged a finger across the sense-pad and checked the BBPD reports for anything of interest.

"Aegis, this is Console."

A moment of silence, and then the headset crackled softly. " _Aegis here, go ahead._ "

She double-checked the screen before replying. The address in the report she'd highlighted was actually one of the ones Lisa had given her a few days ago. "Police report illicit activity on... Bay Hill Rise, Merchant colours on scene and possible Squealer vehicle." She paused to yawn expansively before continuing, "You and Clock are ten minutes out, and the responding officer requested cape backup just in case. Your call."

Aegis replied, doing a fair job of concealing his disapproval at her lack of decorum. " _We'll check it out, boring so far._ "

"I'll confirm with Control," she replied by way of acknowledgement, and killed the link. A few strokes on the keyboard later and a new voice filled her ear.

" _Miss Militia._ "

"Aegis and Clockblocker are moving to aid the cops on Bay Hill Rise."

The sound of an engine idling filled the silence as the hero checked her own report of the incident. " _Understood, I'll swing around the Bay loop road and join them. Out_."

Sophia waited for the link to die out before slumping back over the desk. One click greenlighted Carlos and Dennis, alerting them they were cleared to move to assist the police. She had to suppress a sneer - it was a miracle they let the Wards do anything, and what they were allowed to do had any number of restrictions and rules in place to make it even more difficult. _Brian doesn't know how easy he's got it_.

Five minutes passed, in which time Sophia shifted uncomfortably whilst drumming her fingers against the desk. It wasn't that she couldn't get comfortable - oh no, she'd long since worked out the most ergonomic sprawl for dozing off on the console - the problem was the irritating pain radiating from her ass. When Lisa had told her Alec would tase her, she'd given the impression the other Undersider would at least take pains not to hurt her too badly when they had their planned 'encounter'.

Turns out he'd cackled wildly whilst tripping her with his power before ramming that sceptre of his straight into her buttcheek. Obviously, the electric current prevented her phasing straight through it, but that didn't stop her trying on instinct. The resulting yell and the following stream of curses when Kid Win finally reached her had the other Ward wincing in sympathy. That was two days ago, and it still hurt like hell to sit down. Knowing Alec, there'd be a lewd joke in that somewhere - God knew Dennis had enough of them ready every time she saw him.

" _Console, this is Aegis. Turns out there were a couple of Merchant gang bangers on scene, all wrapped up now. We're heading for home._ "

With a brief shake of the head to clear her thoughts, Sophia keyed the mic. "Whatever."

" _Shadow Stalker, can't you at least try to be professional?_ " Aegis sighed in her ear.

"Whatever, _sir_. How's that?"

He snorted. " _It'll do. Out_."

Again, Sophia was left alone with her thoughts. After a moment's glance at the screens to check she wasn't missing anything, she pushed her chair back and slumped as comfortably as she could manage, losing herself in her thoughts.

The base was… tense. A week and a half after her visit to Brian and by extension Lisa the rumours flying around about a suspected mole had been confirmed in a debriefing after the Wards' last encounter with the Undersiders - the same one in which Alec tagged her with the taser. Armsmaster had stomped in looking particularly displeased, and asked for a recap. After telling Clockblocker to stop cracking jokes about Sophia struggling to sit straight, the older hero had gruffly announced the PRT was looking for moles with links to the Undersiders and that they should remain vigilant and report any suspicious behaviour.

Thinking about it made her smile. For all his success as a cape, Armsmaster wasn't a people person. Hell, he probably generated more ill will amongst his teammates by merit of missing any sort of social cue than _she_ did, and that was saying something considering how much of a bitch she'd been in the first month of probation. Missy was still only just starting to view her in a non-negative light.

Sophia paused in her ruminations. Now that she thought about it, she kind of felt… bad about how she'd treated the little twerp. Sure, she was annoying and cheerful and small and… She was just a kid after all. Maybe she could offer to train with her or something, show that she wasn't just a cold-hearted bitch.

 _What am I thinking_? Sophia mentally chuckled. _Next thing I know I'll actually be fucking going to one of those ice cream nights she suggested._

Checking the console clock again, she yawned. Only half an hour remained, and then she was due on patrol herself, this time with Triumph. The older boy had transferred on up to the Protectorate at the start of December, but he still liked to keep in contact with his old team mates.

 _And you gotta give him credit, he even tries with me_.

* * *

As usual, the patrol found Sophia dressed in costume, standing on a rooftop and waiting for her partner to catch up. Unlike Gallant, Triumph was actually _quick_ , but despite some weird kind of healing factor he wasn't that much stronger than a normal, fit human being.

To punctuate that thought, the Protectorate hero landed on the roof next to her, and straightened, taking a series of deep breaths.

"You're fast," he managed, breathing quickly back under control.

"Yeah, I do track. Pays to be fast."

He just nodded before moving off, grabbing an escape ladder and sliding down it. For her part, Sophia waited until she couldn't hear the rattling metal before breaking into a jog and throwing herself off the roof after him.

Triumph was waiting at the entrance to the alleyway, and together they moved out onto the street at a steady jog. Foot patrols with the Wards were more about showing the colours than actually doing any real crime prevention, and although his position in the Protectorate proper gave him a little more leeway, Roy was still being kept back from the more front-line operations until he had more experience.

A few people stopped and waved, or asked for autographs - Sophia pretended not to be irritated when more people asked for his than hers - but for the most part people let them be. Out of the corner of her eye she was sure she saw one or two people scuttling away, but they couldn't pursue without due suspicion. _More's the pity._ Her finger itched to rest against the trigger of one of her crossbows, but it was 'bad PR' to be seen wandering around brandishing weapons, according to some stuck up prick behind a desk.

"You're quiet," Roy observed, slowing the pace slightly.

Sophia considered the question. It didn't _feel_ like a trap, so maybe it was safe to answer. "Just thinking about how quiet it is."

The other hero nodded and smiled. "Gunning for a round two with Regent?"

"Hah," she spat, hoping he didn't notice the way she twitched at the topic. "Next time he'll eat dirt."

 _God, I hate second-guessing everything I say._

Roy, for his part, just nodded and soon enough the conversation lapsed back into silence. By mutual agreement Sophia made her way back onto the rooftops whilst he made use of that little bit of super-strength to keep up with her on the sidewalks below.

It was almost the end of the patrol, with night settling swiftly around them, when eyes made sharp from months of vigilantism and then months of Wards training spotted something amiss in an alleyway below.

"Triumph, here."

" _I'm not a dog, Stalker. Where?_ "

She dropped to the ground, phasing through the fire escape to keep her descent controlled, and strode to the edge of the street. "Just off Lincoln Avenue, I'll flag you down."

Whilst she waited for Triumph, Sophia turned back to the alleyway behind her and chuckled at the seven thugs spread out across the floor, arms and legs zip-tied together. One of them tried to spit at her, but the effort of lifting his head from the ground proved too much and a crack rang out as he smashed his face into the floor.

"Great work, genius," she commented, swinging a kick in his direction only to pull it at the last moment. Brian had got on her case about needless violence - treat your enemies well and they'll remember it or some bullshit, she was never quite sure - and… well, her brother wasn't a complete idiot, so she did her best to keep her anger caged for when she _really_ needed it.

Triumph arrived not long after and stopped. "Wow, you work fast. Aren't Wards supposed to call it in before you engage?"

"We are," Sophia shrugged, before elaborating. "Wasn't me, found 'em like this."

"Oh, well then," he blinked. After checking to make sure they were all secured, he stepped back and clicked his comm. "Triumph to console, Shadow Stalker picked up a group of thugs in ABB colours hogtied and left out for collection. Could be a new independent on the scene."

Beneath her mask, Sophia smiled and bent down next to the nearest thug, dragging him upright and setting him against the wall. _Now this will be something interesting to tell Lisa._


	4. Chapter 4

A few days later found Sophia stretched out on the couch doing homework of all things whilst doing her best to ignore Dennis. For whatever reason - she certainly couldn't think of any - the time-stopper had latched on to her tasing. The jokes had never been this bad before.

"Hey, Dennis?"

He looked up from his book with a grin that said he'd thought of at least three more jokes to try out on her. "Yeah?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"I hadn't even said anything yet!"

Sophia gave him the eye. The smile faltered slightly before he slowly sunk back out of sight behind the book, grumbling all the while. With a sigh, she returned to the work in front of her - some boring shit about the impact of parahumans on the world from Gladly's world affairs class. Despite herself, she snorted. _I'm probably the best qualified in the whole class to answer this, and it's still boring as fuck_.

A few hundred words later, the doors clicked open and Carlos drifted in, tugging the mask off of his face and depositing it next to Chris. The tinker was running console duty, but everyone knew that 'console duty' to Chris meant 'Tinker time'. He barely glanced up, instead scrawling another few words before Carlos poked him in the arm.

"Huh? Oh!" Chris hastily grabbed at the various pieces of paper he had jerked into the air, frantically trying to explain that he wasn't _actually_ Tinkering this time. "Fuck!"

With a long-suffering sigh Carlos bounced into the air to avoid the mug of coffee Chris sent flying in his hopeless effort to catch all of the paper before it ended up on the floor. Sophia suppressed a grin - watching her teammates was her primary source of entertainment when she wasn't allowed to patrol. Something about schedules and "acceptable contact time". As far as she was concerned, the Youth Guard could stick its regulations right up where the sun didn't shine.

"Carlos, oh glorious leader, have you heard the rumours?" Dennis called, having set aside the book to watch Chris stumble about collecting the paper.

Their leader turned. "Yeah, I've heard. Armsmaster sent me a memo confirming it too - we're supposed to keep an extra-sharp eye out when patrolling for the ABB in case they try something."

Sophia kicked her legs off of the sofa and straightened up. "Heard what? You didn't say anything to me."

"Yeah, 'cuz you didn't ask," Dennis waved her off. "PHO was kicking off about Lung being brought in last night, but I didn't know if it was for real. Daaamn."

" _Armsmaster_ brought down Lung?" She could hardly believe it. The man trained 24/7, and whilst she respected that she could never see him managing to beat the resident rage dragon of Brockton Bay in a straight fight. "No fucking way."

Carlos shrugged. "I'd show you the memo but it self-deleted. Everyone's getting so paranoid about the leaks."

Sophia blinked. _That's new_. For a moment she debated leaving it at that, but getting more information for Lisa finally won out; Gallant's absence due to a family meal certainly helped swing the decision. She'd have to be careful all the same, what with everyone on edge.

"Self-deletion? Fuck, Armsy is getting way too into this."

"Hey, the man needs a hobby," Dennis piped up, but Sophia ignored him, focusing instead on Carlos. The hispanic boy ran a hand through his cropped hair in indecision before sighing again and walking over to them, leaving Chris to collect the paperwork he'd dropped

"I'm not supposed to say much but apparently an internal investigation is turning up a lot more leaks than anyone expected," he started, dropping into the couch next to Sophia. "Everything is up in the air at the moment, but I get the impression Armsmaster is taking it like a personal insult or something."

 _Shit._ Sophia snorted to cover up the spike of ice suddenly announcing itself at the base of her neck. If Armsmaster was turning his personal attention to the matter, things could go wrong at any moment. She had faith in her skills but the man was practically a machine when it came to his work, and if he wasn't machine enough to manage on his own he'd soon enough make one to do what he couldn't.

The conversation had moved on by the time she turned her attention back to it, returning to the topic of Lung's arrest. Dennis laid a $20 bet on there being someone else involved that the PRT weren't talking about, but Carlos shook his head.

"I'd believe it."

Sophia perked up. "What, that new guy who went after the ABB thugs a few days ago?"

"Nah," he shook his head slowly. "You didn't hear this from me but when he came in, bits of Lung were apparently _rotting off_. Different modus operandi, I think."

"Fuck, another new independent then." _Something else to share with Lisa._

Carlos nodded. "Seems like it. Anyways, I'm gonna go hit the showers. Sophia, you and Dennis are up in fifteen minutes. Chris, you're finished right? I'll get Missy to take over console on my way."

As he stood and headed through the doors, followed by Chris - still struggling to keep all of the paper in one bundle - another door opened and a sandy-haired man stuck his head through. "Oi, Shadow Stalker, mind if I have a word."

 _Uh oh_.

* * *

Assault - Ethan when he was out of costume - waited until Sophia had settled into her chair before kicking off his boots and resting his feet on the table. She looked at him warily, waiting. After thirty seconds of silence he chuckled and pulled open a drawer, removing a single sheaf of paper.

"Browbeat."

Sophia frowned. "What?"

"The polite thing to say is 'Come again?' but I'll let you off. Browbeat is the new independent you and Roy nearly bumped into the other day. This," he slid the document across the desk to her, "is everything we know about him so far."

She ran her eyes down the page and turned it over. "That it?"

"He's pretty new, and the only stuff we've got on him is from anything the thugs he's taken out have said to the police."

"Right, so not much," she muttered, going back to the first side and reading from the top. Apparently Browbeat was huge, a slab of muscle reaching nearly seven foot tall and almost the same across the shoulders, and very strong. She couldn't help but feel like someone had maybe been exaggerating just a little bit when they were talking to the police, but beyond 'very strong' the PRT had basically nothing on his powers. A tentative "Brute?" was stamped on one corner of the paper.

Looking up at Ethan, Sophia raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So, we want you to try and find him."

"Me?" She couldn't keep the surprise from her voice that time. "Why me? If you want someone to do the whole Wards speech you're better off with Carlos. He's the pretty boy who's good at public speaking."

The older hero pulled his feet off the table and leant forward. "Because you were an independent before you signed up, and everyone knows it. If it's you talking to him, he might feel less intimidated, plus there's a similarity between the pair of you."

 _This could be a test_ , Sophia thought, carefully keeping her face straight. Maybe they were telling her this to see if it got back to the Undersiders, or maybe they wanted to see how good a job she did on recruiting him.

"Okay…"

Ethan smiled. "So you'll do it?"

"Do I have a choice?" She grunted, before nodding. "Yeah, whatever, I'll talk to him. How the fuck am I supposed to find this guy anyway? Says here he's only been confirmed for four incidents, another four suspected, and they're all over the place."

"That," he grinned, "Is entirely up to you. Or to put it another way, this is all on your head. Have fun!"

Sophia stared at him for several seconds before her lip pulled up in a sneer. _You sneaky bastard. They asked you to do it, didn't they?_ Before she stood, she gave the document a final cursory once-over, and stopped.

"Huh."

Ethan looked up from his screen suspiciously. "What?"

She smiled sweetly at him, remembering how much it annoyed Brian when Aisha did the same thing. "Nothing. I'll be getting ready for my patrol now."

"You little-..!"

As she left, she heard his chair scrape against the floor as he lunged across the table for the document. It wasn't a big thing, not really. They'd just missed the fact that every time Browbeat had been confirmed on site by the police, the incident had taken place on a weekend. His targets had been almost exclusively ABB gangers apart from one possible confrontation with Victor from the Empire Eighty Eight.

And today was Friday.

Sophia smiled to herself. If he stuck to his routine, all she'd have to do was wait for Console to alert them to an incident involving the ABB, and hopefully… there he'd be.

* * *

"What is this, some kind of vendetta you've got going on? Not satisfied with one villain tasing your ass so gotta get the whole set? Or is it that you're jealous bossman got to take out the big bad Lung?"

Sophia shifted into her shadow form and allowed the weird semi-solidness to fall away, dropping through the roof and then through the wall of the building she'd been on top of as her momentum carried her forwards. She stepped back into her normal state a metre away from Clockblocker, pointing a finger at him.

"You don't know when to shut up, do you?"

He lifted his hands in the classic 'I surrender' pose. "Nope, but seriously what's going on? You've taken every call that involves the ABB tonight. Sure, Lung is off the streets, but come on! You think you can take out the rest of his gang in one night?"

"If I really tried."

"Wow," he was forced to pause and jog after her as she stepped out onto the road and started off again. "You really mean that, huh?"

Rolling her eyes, she stopped and turned to face him again. "No, dumbass. Assault asked me to try and find that new independent and talk to him, so I'm being smart. Know what that means? Smart?"

"Ha ha, Shadow. I might crack jokes a lot but I do have a brain. Go on then, share with the class?"

"Just for that, I'm not fucking going to."

"Oh, come on!" Clockblocker whined, chasing after her again. "Don't make me freeze you! I mean it!"

She held up a hand as another call came through. "Shadow Stalker here."

" _Police have reports of a disturbance about five minutes from you,_ " Missy's voice crackled in their ears. " _A bunch of ABB ran out of an alleyway and tried to hold up a bank delivery but can't get into the truck._ "

"We're on it, location?"

A pause, filled with the sound of keys being pressed. " _Uhm… got it! Juniper Crescent, leading to Oak Park Way._ "

Dennis threw his hands up in defeat as she turned and broke into a jog for the nearest fire escape. "I guess we're going after this one as well? How is this helping you find Beatboxer or whatever this guy's called?"

"Because," Sophia relied, swinging herself up onto the ladder, "I am smart. You aren't."

She left Dennis to make his way on foot as she shadow-ran across the rooftops. Thankfully the location was close enough that she wouldn't get in too much shit from Carlos about leaving her patrol partner behind, and in two minutes she was standing at the edge of another roof, peering down into the street.

"Yup, Browbeat on scene. Looks like he's almost done clearing up the ABB too." Browbeat was just as big, if not bigger, than the police reports said, and he was smacking aside thugs with almost casual ease. One sunk a knife into his shoulder, and the only reaction it got him was a backhand. When said back of the hand was nearly half a foot across, that _hurt_ , and the thug bounced off the side of the van he'd been trying to rob before falling to the floor unconscious.

Dennis's voice filled her earbud , sounding distinctly out of breath. " _Fuck, you were actually right? Now you've gotta tell me how you did it._ "

She grinned to herself. "Maybe I will. Now, stay back - I'm gonna drop in and talk to him."

" _Wait, what?_ "

"I was an independent before I joined up, doofus. He might listen to me more, or some bullshit like that. It's what Assault thinks anyway." She didn't add that Ethan had said nothing about Clockblocker staying behind. ' _Why waste a perfect opportunity for a private chat?'_ After a moment, she leant out over the ledge, watching as Browbeat ducked behind the van after another thug.

Obviously, she'd have to take care to be subtle in case Clock decided to burst in on them anyway, or in case she put him off too strongly and someone higher up started to suspect her, but if she could plant some doubt in this guy's head about the Wards? Maybe Lisa could talk him round, and more muscle on their team meant less grunt work for Brian.

With that thought in mind, Sophia stepped out into open space and let the shadows boil outward from her core, flash-transforming her body into a smoky, human-shaped cloud. As she drifted downwards, Browbeat clocked the final ABB member and looked about before his hand went to his waist and withdrew a set of ties.

"Nice," Sophia called out, shifting back to corporeality the moment she felt the ground start to impinge on her shadow state. The reaction was about what she expected: the hulking figure jerked upright, dropping the ties and wheeling to face her in one smooth movement. They faced off in silence for almost half a minute before he lowered his over-large fists and nodded at her.

"Shadow Stalker." The voice was quiet, but deep and rumbling. It suited him.

She gestured with one hand. "How many was that? Eight? Nine? That's pretty fucking impressive."

"Thank you," Bowbeat ducked his head at the praise. Sophia couldn't help but get the impression of a gentle giant stuck in her head as he seemed to weigh up her presence before turning back to his ties. "I assume I won't have to call the police with you on scene?"

Sophia withdrew her own ties and started on the few he'd yet to reach. "Nah, you're good. Police knew you were here ten minutes ago anyway."

The big man flinched at that, letting the thug he'd been zip-tying fall back against the floor with a groan as he looked around the street.

"Hey, don't sweat it. I'm on scene so they're holding back for now." A lie, but close enough to how things would appear that he'd believe it without question. "It's good to see someone else on the streets dishing out justice, though."

He seemed to find that funny. "Not justice."

"Then what?" She couldn't help it - her interest was piqued. "So far you've only targeted the gangs, right? Sounds like justice to me."

"Experimentation." He paused, looking at her for a long moment. "The authorities won't care who I test my powers on so long as they're criminals, no? It makes logical sense for me to target the gangs if I want to avoid going to prison."

His voice had slipped into the tones of a lecturer, like he'd put a lot of thought into what he was saying and had planned it out beforehand. Sophia shook her head.

"Asking the wrong girl - I was only independent for about a month before the Wards snapped me up, but yeah, sounds smart to me."

"Ah. Is this where you try and induct me? I confess I would like to hear what you have to say."

 _Weird. Who even talks like that_?

"Nah, I don't dig that. Sure, the higher-ups might want me to give you the whole talk or whatever but me? If I'm honest I'd rather be doing what you do." She quietly thanked her lucky stars she'd yet to get her upgraded mask with the camera and recorder built into it. "Too many restrictions working as a Ward, but oh well. Pay is good, I get good gear, I get back-up if I need it and some kind of contract with Panacea meaning if I get fucked up she'll unfuck me. If that sounds like your deal then sure, I'm inducting you. Otherwise…"

She let the sentence hang and waited as Browbeat mulled it over. After a good twenty seconds of silence he ponderously shook his head.

"I would like to think about it. The other night I bumped into someone who said something much the same as you and outlined the benefits of staying independent. If I can, may I get back to you after assessing my options?"

Sophia secretly smiled to herself. _Hopefully_ , that 'someone' was Tattletale and the rest of the Undersiders. "Do whatever, big man."

He hesitated. "You do not mind?"

"S'like I said, the higher-ups probably give a shit but I don't. If you'd got one of the others, maybe they'd give you the bullshit speech but I know what it's like on both sides. The rest of them joined straight after getting their powers. My advice? Play it safe, but see what suits you best. I know I wouldn't have fucking joined if I'd known about all the rules… That and Clockblocker has a terrible sense of humour."

"I see," Browbeat murmured, nodding slowly. The attempt at a joke seemed to sail straight over his head, which considering his height was an impressive feat. "In which case, I am glad it was you I met and not them. However, I would like to take my leave now. The police will be here soon, despite your assurance to the contrary. It was a pleasure to meet you."

 _Did he just fucking bow?_

"Same to you," Sophia replied slowly. Before the last word had even left her mouth Browbeat turned and leapt into the air, flying much further than anyone of his size possibly could. In moments he was on the roof of the van, and then the rooftops hid him from view.

" _You done? Just saw some huge dude leap onto a roof and run off, guessing that was him?_ "

She sighed. "You know, I'd almost forgotten you were here. It was nice."

" _So is that a yes or what, miss Bitch Queen extraordinaire?_ "

Chuckling, Sophia turned away and started walking. Sirens were already drawing near, and there was no need to linger. Her job for the evening was complete.

"It's a yes. Let's go."

It was hard to ignore Dennis's moaning on the route back to base. Almost, some might have said, impossible. Sophia managed it easily - what with Aisha at home and Alec at the Undersider's base, she had more than enough experience ignoring idiots.


	5. Chapter 5

Sophia stepped off the last bus and hitched the overfilled backpack into a more comfortable position as she stifled a yawn. It was late - later than she'd usually get home; Assault had taken her aside at the end of the patrol and questioned her about Browbeat. He'd rolled his eyes when she admitted she'd let him go his own way at the end of their meeting rather than ask him back to the base, but otherwise seemed content with her… _mostly_ factual recount of what she'd said. Hopefully Browbeat wouldn't end up in a position to contradict her. As the run-down bus hissed loudly and drew away behind her, she started off into the gloom between her and home.

Home. It was an interesting thought now that Brian had his own place set up. Sophia stayed with their Mom because of Aisha mostly, but there was still that little part of her that kept her awake at nights whispering _if I'd been stronger, maybe she wouldn't have got this bad_. Every morning came with the hope that today was the day Mom would beat it, and every morning it was shattered. She knew Aisha needed her, but she wasn't sure just how much longer she could bear to watch Mom treat them both like shit only to cling to them in tears moments later.

 _Maybe if I hide her stash?_

No. No, as much as she had considered that option before, Sophia knew what would happen. Mom would go crazy, demanding to know where her stash was, and then _he'd_ come in from the front room.

The lamp ahead flickered twice and went out, plunging much of the rest of the street into darkness, but she barely paused. There was a time when she'd scurry her way home, scared of the looming concrete facades of the packed tower blocks that studded the development in which she lived, but since her trigger it was difficult not to _enjoy_ it. In places like this, people were truly alive.

But those thoughts weren't suitable for Aisha and home. With a sigh, Sophia turned off the road and gave the rusty gate a savage kick, jarring it open. The grimy glass door caught as it always did, forcing her to slam her shoulder against the handle painfully lest she wanted to bring down the wrath of _him_ by hitting the buzzer. After two tries it opened, and she readjusted her backpack before bounding up the stairs two at a time.

The six room flat was on the eleventh floor, but she only slowed at the ninth, stopping to cock her head.

 _Fuck_.

Loud shouting could be heard echoing down the stairwell, a strident male baritone clashing with the high-pitched feminine wail of his partner. Two voices Sophia knew all too well.

Mom, and _Evan_. Even thinking his name fouled her mood. She pounded up the final flights of stairs four at a time, hesitating only at the door to check the argument wasn't occurring in the hallway. Thankfully, it wasn't - a crashing sound told her Mom was flying about the kitchen in one of her rages whilst _he_ berated her.

 _Good. Aisha's still in her room._ The arguments only moved to the hallway when Aisha was threatening to, or about to, run away. Or at least, it did the times when Mom noticed.

The door opened quietly, and Sophia allowed herself a small smile at the foresight of keeping it well-oiled. If it came to the worst, she could always dart through the thin walls in shadow form, but Aisha couldn't. Given how often her younger sister ran away… Well, a small bottle of WD40 cost hardly anything at the grungy department store half a mile away. The voices became clear once she was inside, but it was easy to ignore them past confirming that they hadn't heard her come in. She darted through the hall, flickering her power once to dive through the wall into her room rather than risk being spotted.

Inside, she allowed herself to breathe out.

"Hey, when'd you get in here?"

Sophia nearly dropped her backpack in surprise as Aisha sat up, pushing aside the covers of the bed and tugging her earphones out. _It's fine, she didn't see me._

"Just now. What're you doing in my room?"

Her little sister's hand went to the dyed lock of purple hair, as it always did when she was anxious. When she answered, her voice was quiet - a stark counterpoint to her usual attitude.

"They're fighting again."

Sophia sighed and slung her backpack into the corner, where Aisha wouldn't see her mask poking out of the top, before crossing over to her bed and settling down next to her. "I heard. It'll be fine."

"Yeah? That doesn't sound like fine."

"They always sound like this," Sophia did her best to reassure her whilst not believing a word she said. "They'll be alright in a bit."

In truth she could never tell when the argument would turn explosive and the blows would start to fly. It happened about once every two or three weeks, when things started getting difficult for one of them and tempers started to rise. Evan - and this was the only thing Sophia begrudgingly allowed herself to approve of the drug-addled man - never started it, content to sit in a stupor the whole day until Mom finally got tired of it and managed to stay sober long enough to demand he do something for the household.

She tried, Sophia knew, tried so hard to be a good mom. But the drugs Evan could get through his ties with the _fucking_ Merchants were good, and she couldn't resist the temptation for long. God knew the only reason she hadn't strung the man and every one of his dealers up by their own guts was because Mom would start to suffer withdrawal symptoms, and that was when she was meanest to Aisha. Meanest to all of them.

"Hey, Soph?"

She stirred, smiling at her sister tiredly. "What, squirt?"

"Can we go see Brian soon?"

 _I need to get out_ , Sophia translated in the privacy of her own head. _I'll run away again if I don't get out_.

"Sure thing. His new flat is actually pretty nice, but don't tell him I said that. His sense of interior design is _crap_ , though. You could probably give him some pointers, bet he'd be pleased."

Aisha giggled at the image of Brian following her admittedly eccentric artistic advice, and Sophia allowed herself a real smile, silently reaffirming the same promise she made every night, just to remind herself.

 _We'll make it. We're strong enough._

* * *

If there was one thing that could bore her more thoroughly than two and a half hours straight of Console duty, it was school. Ever since Sophia had triggered, it was more like going through the motions than anything else. She lived for those moments of freedom, all too few and far between, where she could just run from rooftop to rooftop, relying only on her wits and her power to keep herself alive. Aegis had noted it in the first week of her probation and told her she should stop leaving her patrol-mates behind.

 _Maybe they should learn to keep up_.

Track was the one thing Sophia lived for in school hours. It wasn't anything close to real freedom, but damn it she knew she was _good._ One of the benefits of being on the track team was early access to the canteen, something she'd always been grateful for. It allowed her to get a table, away from everyone else, and eat in peace and quiet. Often, people would come and sit with her - a friend or two from track, who she'd greet happily, or maybe someone from one of her classes. Sophia prided herself on her fairness even to those who hadn't proven their strength; Brian always said it was the mark of a leader to treat everyone properly. Sometimes her anger made it… difficult to remember his lessons, but she tried her best.

But when Emma Barnes sat down opposite her, along with her few attendant hanger's on, Sophia had to repress a sigh. Misha and Christina weren't too bad, but Lauren had about as much sense as the average Merchant thug, and that was being generous. Emma herself...

"Hey Sophia," the girl started breathlessly.

She nodded. "S'up, Em."

It was more a statement, an acknowledgement of 'I know you're here' than it was an invitation to carry on the conversation, but the redheaded girl plowed straight on like she always did. It was easier to nod along and make the noises in the right places than it was to get the idiot to leave her alone, so she tolerated her. After all, Emma did sort of owe her her life, but Sophia didn't really see the point of acting like that meant anything. Emma had proven she was strong, sure, but beyond that?

It was like the girl was stuck. She'd shown strength, felt it for the first time, and now she wanted more. But she didn't know how to go about it. As far as Sophia was concerned, that was her problem, but Emma kept coming back to her. In some ways, it reminded her of her Mom and Evan, going back to the dealer again and again.

"Soph?"

She blinked. "Huh? Sorry, zoned out."

"It's okay," Emma smiled conspiratorially. "Anyway, yeah…"

 _Oh yeah, that's the other reason I don't get rid of her_. Even months later, Sophia couldn't help but grip her cheap plastic fork a little tighter at the thought of what the airheaded girl in front of her had gone and done at the height of her obsession with her 'saviour'. When she'd arrived at Winslow, it'd taken Emma only two days to get her away from everyone else and reveal that she'd somehow worked out her identity, before begging to be a side kick.

"Hey, Em?"

The other girl paused expectantly. Sophia gestured at her empty tray and shrugged apologetically. "I've got track in 10 minutes, and I'm done. Catch you later?"

Emma blinked, face falling momentarily before another smile lit her features again. "O-oh, okay. I'll see you at lunch tomorrow then!"

"Yeah, sure." She stood up, nodding to Christina, Misha and Lauren, and went to dump her tray. Inevitably, Emma would find her tomorrow just as she'd said, but Sophia knew how much effort _she'd_ be putting in to meeting up with the girl. Despite everything that had happened in that alleyway, the desperate girl had never triggered. She wondered if perhaps Emma had started to but had somehow interrupted the process, trapping her in this weird loop of seeking affirmation.

Whatever. Sophia barged out of the cafeteria doors and made for the changing rooms. It wasn't her problem any more. Emma wasn't family, nor a member of the Undersiders or even a teammate on the Wards. Sophia looked out for her own, sure, her friends too, but the girl wasn't even that.

School, she reflected with another yawn, was boring.

* * *

Despite the tiredness that dogged her throughout the day, made even worse by a training session for track that left her legs burning, Sophia was a sister of her word. The bus took her home swiftly, and unlike a lot of days Aisha was waiting for her in her room.

"We goin' or what then?"

Sophia grinned at her. Most people found Aisha grating like this, and Brian constantly told her it surprised him that she put up with their youngest sister the best. She always told him she saw too much of herself in her to do anything else.

"Yup, you ready?"

Aisha nodded and patted her latest affectation - a fanny pack. Sophia merely shook her head in disdain, earning gleeful chuckles from the bag's owner, and traded her school stuff for her afternoon stuff. The bag was a smaller one that fit more snugly to the small of her back, and carried only a bottle of water, a small knife, her two phones and a pair of gloves. With a quick gesture for her sister to wait, Sophia opened the door carefully and glanced up and down the hall.

Silence. _He_ and Mom were probably too high to even notice they were gone.

"Alright, let's go."

The pair made it out into the hallway without any mishaps, and with the door shut firmly behind them Aisha seemed to fill up, her smile becoming more real and, regrettably, the attitude returning full-force. By the time they'd made it to the ground floor, Sophia was rolling her eyes at her sister's loud-mouthed commentary.

"Anyways, where even is Brian's place?"

"Across town," Sophia replied as she held the door open.

Aisha immediately pouted. "You mean we gotta take a _bus?_ "

"Deal with it."

She suppressed a grin and mock-frowned at the girl. After a moment of further protest, Aisha slouched her shoulders and started down the path, muttering under her breath. Sophia clipped her round the head.

"Wassat for?!"

"No swearing, twerp."

Aisha pretended to be gobsmacked. "Coming from you?"

"Just get to the damn bus stop, alright?" Sophia growled, reaching out to ruffle the strip of bleached hair in a way she knew annoyed her sister no end.

Thankfully the bus journey was uneventful, and Brian was waiting for them at the stop on the other end. Aisha bounced out of the doors and overdramatically threw herself at him, much to his embarrassment and the amusement of the other passengers, with Sophia following at a more sedate pace.

"Hey, bro."

He smiled at her. "Hey Soph. Gerroff, Aisha, you're causing a scene!"

"So what? Can't a gal greet her brother how she wants?"

Regardless of her protests, she released him and they walked the five minutes to Brian's apartment with Aisha dominating the conversation as usual. Sophia chuckled to herself at the sight of Brian struggling to get a word in edgeways, but the younger teen finally calmed down at the sight of the high-rise block of flats.

"Daaaamn," she breathed, ducking the expected swipe with practiced ease. "Swanky."

Sophia nudged her with her shoulder instead as she walked past. "Thought the same thing, it's pretty cool huh?"

"Swanky," Brian mumbled from behind her. "Of all things, swanky?"

By the time the trio made it up to the actual flat, Aisha was nodding quietly to herself. Brian raised a quizzical eyebrow at her as he unlocked the door.

"Yeah," Aisha seemed to deliberate for a long moment before cackling. "Definitely swanky."

Unlike Sophia's first time in the flat, Brian didn't usher them through into the kitchen. Instead, he was content to let Aisha explore the place on her own whilst the two older siblings hovered by the door.

"We're getting a little more flak than usual," he murmured, throwing a surreptitious glance over his shoulder to confirm Aisha was still in the bedrooms making filthy comments about the king-size in his room.

Sophia frowned. "What kind of flak?"

"ABB. Lung was gunning for _us_ the night he got taken out, and now they're stepping up their game looking for us. Lisa will probably call you later in the week about it."

Anything she wanted to say had to wait, as Aisha emerged from the bedroom and propped herself up against the wall next to us, eyes darting between each of us in turn.

"So, anything to drink in this place? And whatcha talking about?"

Brian shot her a look, before giving Aisha a gentle shove in the direction of the kitchen. "Yeah, there's a fridge. You'd know that if you could keep your mind clean for more than five minutes."

"Sweet," she replied, leading the way. "How come you got this place anyway? Bored of Dad? I get that Soph will stay over a few times, but what's with the three rooms? Planning on having too much company for just one king-sized bed?"

Sophia saw the wince on Brian's face even from her position behind him as he ducked behind the counter and rummaged through the fridge. It'd been something she'd told him to tell Aisha a long time ago, but his sense of pride meant he wanted tangible evidence, proof he could show her when the time came.

"Actually," he replied, sliding a can across the counter to each of them and giving Sophia a long look. "I've been meaning to talk to you about it for a while."

Brian gestured to the couches in front of the television and waited whilst they settled themselves in. After waiting for a moment, he set his unopened can down on the coffee table and folded his hands in his lap. Sophia nodded to herself. _Good_ , _about damn time_.

"Aisha…"

She loudly slurped her drink. "Come on already! I wanna start the films."

Brian suppressed a sigh, and their youngest sister looked between them for a second before lowering her drink.

"Alright, geez. What?"

"If… If everything goes right, and this job pays off like I'm hoping," Brian started, before stopping and composing himself. "If things go well, I'm hoping to file for your custody."


	6. Chapter 6

Sophia waited with Brian in the hallway whilst Aisha bounced off to the toilet. It was late, nearly ten, and despite all her apparent maturity their youngest sister had started yawning not too long ago and hadn't stopped. Brian had chuckled and motioned to Sophia, and despite her protests Aisha was unable to sway either of the two to allow her to stay.

"Hey, a few more things whilst we've got a moment."

Sophia blinked and refocused herself on the present. "Yeah?"

Brian hesitated. "Lisa… recruited someone new. Pretty much a new cape, only been out once before according to her and Lisa agrees. Might help keep the ABB off our backs too, now that I think about it."

"Okay," Sophia nodded, keeping one eye on the door at the far end of the hallway. "Anything I should know?"

"Bug control." Brian grinned as Sophia turned to him in surprise. "Yup, bug control. She's not got a name yet."

Her eyebrows tracked up her face of their own accord. "That new, huh? Damn. Bug control though?"

"Don't knock it, she's pretty good."

"Mmm," Sophia replied noncommittally. "Do I get to meet her?"

Brian hesitated at the sound of the toilet flushing, but hurried his words out anyway. "Soon, yeah - she goes to Winslow anyway so you might know of her. I… well, we all get the impression she's being bullied a bit."

Sophia rolled her eyes, hiding her smile. Brian couldn't help himself when it came to his team-mates or his family. "Guessing you want me to keep an eye out for her, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded, turning to face Aisha as she emerged from the bathroom. "Just.. you know, if you can?"

With a wry shake of her head, Sophia pulled the door open and waited whilst Brian ducked down to give Aisha a quick hug, despite her complaints. From her vantage point, she could see how the younger girl grabbed hold of him just as tightly as he did her. Then Aisha was out of the door and it was her turn.

"Stay safe, okay?" Sophia mumbled, accepting the awkward hug. Brian was always less touchy-feely with her, seeing her as his equal against the world more than his little sister. It always made her feel good to remember that, like she was just as strong as he was.

As they pulled away, Brian nodded. "I will. Do the same, yeah? And keep an eye on her."

Sophia smiled at that. Once upon a time she would have taken offence at the implication she'd forget to do so, or perhaps think he was suggesting she couldn't handle it. Things had changed, however.

"As much as anyone can, I will."

One wave to Aisha later and Brian was pulling the door shut behind them. The younger girl did her best to hide another yawn but failed completely, swaying on the spot. Reaching out idly to ruffle her hair, Sophia started towards the elevator.

"Come on, you. Let's get home."

The return journey seemed to pass in a blur, with Aisha slipping into a light doze for half of the ride. Sophia enjoyed the feeling of her sister leaning against her - it was rare enough for the self-acclaimed rebellious soul to show affection, let alone in public like this. When the time came to wake her up, Sophia couldn't help but smile sadly.

"Hey, we're home."

Aisha blinked several times, before staring out of the misted window blearily. "Oh."

That about summed up her own reaction to arriving back on the development, but Sophia kept those thoughts hidden. The trip through the dark estate took a little longer with Aisha, but they made it back quickly enough. Thankfully there were no loud sounds of arguments drifting down the stairwell when they made it to the ninth floor, so they continued on their way as normal.

By the time they were both inside and Aisha asleep, it was nearly eleven. Sophia hesitated in the middle of her room, eyes drawn to the window. She stood there for nearly a minute, looking between the crack in the blinds and her bed before sighing and locking the door.

Just for tonight, she'd break the golden rule, go out into the darkness with nothing but her power and herself. She needed time to think, to get away from her responsibilities to her sister and her brother, to herself and to the other Wards. Time to… be herself.

* * *

It took nearly an hour until the rhythms of the apartment block slowly settled into something approaching sleep. Sophia leant against her half-open window with her elbows resting on the lintel, looking out into the darkness clinging to the city like a shroud. The adults had gone to bed not long before, only a few angry words thrown between them before the door slammed shut and… other sounds started to float through the cracks in the walls.

But now even those noises had faded into silence, and apart from the distant sound of a dog barking in one of the other towers, the development estate was silent. Above, clouds scudded their way across the sky, turning bright white light into pearly gloom as the moon was alternately exposed and covered. It was one such dark patch that Sophia now stared out into, and with a small smile she straightened.

Her power was, for the lack of a better descriptor, comprehensive in its effect. Not only did her body fall away into half-reality, becoming translucent shadow capable of slipping through almost any surface, but her senses changed too. In her shadow state the darkness became enticingly illuminated, pools of light became nearly painful to look at and everywhere she turned she could almost _sense_ the shadows nearby.

Another glance at the clock told Sophia it was nearly half past midnight. It had been a long time since she'd done this; ever since joining the Wards she'd found little cause to escape like this, diving into the intricacies of her power to retreat from the real world for a few precious hours. But now, the tension at the PRT HQ, the tension at home…

It was too much. Taking three carefully measured paces backwards, Sophia tightened the straps on her backpack and burst into motion. This move had been practiced more times than she cared to remember, and for good reason - as she neared the still-open window she threw herself into a full-length dive, balling her fists as they hurtled towards the glass panes between her, the outside world and the eleven story drop. At the last instant she allowed the hungry shadows to roll to the surface, losing herself in the shivering icy bliss of transformation. Barely an instant later she sailed through the window and out, reaching nearly ten metres distant from her room before gravity exerted its weakened hold over her and the ground slowly started to rise to meet her.

Feeling adventurous, she allowed the shadows to recede and suppressed a whoop at the feeling of wind lashing against her face. At the last possible instant Sophia pulsed the darkness outwards from her core and exploded in slow motion against the ground as she met it at last. It felt strange, being stretched like that, but after only a second or so her body had drawn together, and she was off.

Running like this was the most relaxing thing Sophia cared to name if asked. In the darkness of night, the city gave the impression of sleeping - most streets lay deserted, those of good intentions long since tucked safely away in bed whilst others of darker mind knew best the ways to keep from sight. She didn't care about any of that, not now, not this night.

 _No, tonight is for me._

The route was a well-traced one. Within a minute of her touchdown on the wispy grass outside her apartment block Sophia had made her way through the estate and onto the roof of a nearby gas station, flitting between shadow and normal state to make the bigger jumps. Every time she dived into her power, she couldn't help but turn and stare out over the entirety of the city. It was a freedom she never had time to pursue whilst on active duty with the Wards, and that was something she lamented daily. Even with her brother, there was never the freedom to _move_ like this - he was bound in ways she wasn't, even when their powers interacted.

Unlike many other times, the rooftop trails led Sophia away from the Docks and into the midst of the city, where the roofs were many and the spaces between them varied in distance and drop - or climb, depending on where she was. She allowed herself to fall into her ability, losing conscious thought to the steady rhythm of her feet against the rooftops, the weird but not unpleasant feeling of wind passing around _and_ through her.

Across the city, a painfully bright streak of light burst from between several buildings, climbing higher and higher before sinking back down nearly a mile distant from where it had originated. Sophia scowled, dragged back to the harsh realities of Brockton Bay. _Purity_.

It only took a single exercise of willpower to send herself falling through the next roof rather than landing on it. The dilapidated looking parking lot was one she'd been in a few times before, enough to know there was a payphone not too far distant. She moved like the shadow she was between the support pillars, barely bothering to jump over the wall at the far end before floating down to land amidst the darkness between the lot and the next building over. It was a short trek to the phone.

" _PRT Hotline, please state your business."_ Despite the late hour, the man - Phillips, if she wasn't mistaken - sounded remarkably alert.

She coughed once, roughing her voice. "I s-saw Purity landing in the East district n-not too long ago. She w-was really bright… I think she… she might be-"

It was an act, of course. Sophia couldn't help but grin to herself as the voice on the other end of the phone became comforting in a heartbeat, guiding her through a process she was probably more familiar with than he was. After he started to get suspicious, probably about the time the phone trace came back and revealed her to be nowhere near the place she'd described, she hung up.

Sophia checked her watch. A PRT non-powered patrol would be swinging by the payphone in the next five minutes to double-check. Five minutes to get clear.

They never saw her, not even when she used their van as a stepping stone to get from one side of the road to the other. Before long, a gentle aching burn made itself known in her legs, and Sophia reorientated herself off the Medhall tower, heading for home.

She enjoyed playing these games, probably enjoyed them a little too much. Brian had told her she should look for ways to vent her anger, and track was one of those. This had it beat hands down. The thrill of knowing how much trouble she'd be in if they ever caught her, yet the safety of knowing they never would was somehow addictive - even though the very idea of addiction brought a sour taste to her mouth - and by the time the development estate was drawing into view Sophia found herself yawning. She'd managed to exhaust herself.

 _At last_ , she thought wearily. _I can sleep_.

She hated that she had to do this, hated that she had to reduce herself to almost exhaustion before she could sleep comfortably at home, but it was just one method amongst many for coping. Until Aisha could move in with Brian, until they both escaped, it was just another way of surviving. As she slipped in through the front door, not bothering to shoulder it open this late at night and safe in the knowledge of the broken security camera, Sophia mouthed her quiet promise to herself again.

 _I will survive. I am strong enough._

* * *

"You look tired," the voice from behind her said, prompting Sophia to sit up blearily and rub her eyes.

"Thanks for fucking pointing it out to everyone," she growled in response, eying the papers she'd been stretched out over in apparent suspicion. "Long night last night."

Carlos laughed quietly. "If I were Dennis, there would be a joke in that."

"Believe me, I am grateful you aren't Dennis," she shot back, stretching her arms above her head in an effort to work out the kinks caused by falling asleep on the Wards' too-comfortable couches. "So what did you wake me up for?"

"Nothing," Carlos shrugged, slipping into the seat opposite with an exertion of his flight. "Just wanted to see how you're doing, is all."

Sophia waved it away, doing her best to suppress the sudden flare of worry in case Dean was somewhere nearby. "Yeah, fine, fine." Stifling another yawn, she looked around the room and frowned. "Where is everyone?"

"All of the Protectorate got called away on something urgent just outside the city limits, but we weren't told what it was or how long they'll be," came the reply.

Behind them, the doors slid open with a soft chime to announce a new arrival. Sophia let her eyes drift to the clock before starting upright. It was almost 3 in the afternoon! She'd been asleep for almost four hours and no one had bothered to wake her up.

"The sleeping beauty awakens!"

Sophia closed her eyes. "Dennis…"

There was a pause as he peeled back his face mask. "Yeah, yeah, I get it - 'shut the fuck up', right?"

"Exactly."

She half-listened as Dennis asked the same question she had a minute before. Carlos gave the same answer, which was apparently prompt enough for the redhead to launch in a tirade at the laziness of the heroes and how they totally deserved more breaks than they got. After five minutes, the discussion - now featuring Missy, who'd emerged from the showers - showed no signs of abating.

"All I'm saying," Dennis postured, "Is what are we supposed to do now?"

Missy opened her mouth to reply, but before she could so much as utter a syllable the large red light in the middle of the ceiling started flashing and an alarm loud enough to drown out almost all thought started blaring.

Sophia shot Dennis a dirty look. "You just had to open your damn mouth, didn't you?"

Moments later Dean and Chris burst in from the dormitory rooms, looking about wildly. Sophia pulled herself to her feet and started towards the doorway behind which stood the mannequins where costumes were stored during downtime, exchanging a blank glance with Dean in the process. Before she even got half way, the door Dennis had entered from burst open again, and PRT Handler Iain McDouglas strode in.

"Wards! We've just received reports of a bank robbery taking place downtown at Bay Central. Dark clouds have been seen inside the bank, and all internal communications are down. Our current main suspects are the Undersiders."

Sophia froze; she couldn't help it, and the moment she did, Dean's head snapped up. Logically she knew that Brian and Lisa would be doing _something_ in the next few days that she wasn't aware of, but something like this? Had this been the reason he'd mentioned the new Bug Girl on his team? She did her best to breathe levelly as Dean watched her.

"Sophia..?"

 _Shit._

Her emotions must have been all over the place - fear, anger, concern and panic warred for dominance as she struggled to keep her face straight in the face of the other Ward's increasingly intense stare.

"My… my sister," she choked out, the words tumbling over each other in her haste. "She said she was going to the bank today. D-... Downtown."

Instantly Dean's gaze softened, and the others glanced between themselves in shock. Sophia shut her eyes for a moment, quietly praying they would believe her. It was rare for her to show any sort of emotion beyond disdain whilst on the base or patrolling, but when she opened her eyes, Sophia saw Missy looking at her in consternation.

"We'll beat them," the little girl stated confidently, to various sounds of affirmation from the others, and it was all she could do to smile back.

"Yeah."

 _Ironic,_ she thought with a carefully hidden, bitter smile, _that they finally include me like this when the enemy is my own brother._

* * *

The rain drummed against the roof of the PRT response van as it hurtled through the streets of Brockton Bay. Inside, Sophia clenched her fist once and then again before slowly pulling her mask down across her face. Missy had the seat opposite, and the younger Ward watched her silently as she let out a breath and forced herself to press her palms flat against her knees. It was something Brian did, when he was really angry. And she _was_ angry, at Brian and at Lisa for pulling something so dumb and putting her in a situation so dangerous! With Dean in the van ahead of them and the full compliment of Wards present, it would be a high stakes game of keeping things believable.

 _You fucking idiot, Brian!_

"Hey," Missy's voice broke into her thoughts timidly. "It'll be okay."

Sophia let her head fall back against the side of the van. This wasn't good enough - she was being too obvious, everyone could tell she was on edge. The excuse about her sister rang true enough that people weren't paying too much attention yet, but when it came to it things would be different. She had to be perfect the whole way through.

"Yeah, I know. Just pissed." Nice and safe. True, as well.

Missy just nodded, glancing at Dennis expectantly. Uncharacteristically, the boy remained silent, eyes fixed on the shield motif of Aegis's costume emblazoned across his chest - his idea, surprisingly, but one that put him in the line of fire. The mood, already subdued, seemed to die, and the rest of the trip passed with not another word uttered. By the time they arrived on the street outside the bank, the rain had gone from noticeable to downpour, and the asphalt was slick with water. Sophia splashed out onto the road and clutched her two crossbows tightly for a moment, reaffirming their presence.

Carlos, dressed in Dennis's costume, pulled open the door of his van and stepped out into the street, raising his voice to be heard as Chris poked his head out behind him. "Alright, they have hostages but from what we've seen before they'll try to run before confronting us. We've got the numerical superiority, so I think we _press_ that, force them onto the back foot and-..."

"Wait," Dean cut across, subtly pointing to the roof of the bank. Carlos half-turned, eyes widening as he took in the indistinct shape that could only be Glory Girl. "Amy's in the bank too."

Sophia winced beneath her mask as the armoured boy turned in her direction. Outwardly, she hefted one crossbow as absentmindedly as she could manage to appear, and nodded.

"Okay, tell her to wait until we go in. We got here in eight minutes, so there's a fair chance they haven't finished what they started," Carlos continued. "Shadow?"

She nearly started - _nerves are getting the better of me, damnit_ \- instead tilting her head to face him. "What?"

"I want you on recon. Vista, move to the back of the bank and try and block up any exits. You," he indicated Sophia, "Go with her and get inside. Do not engage, are we clear?"

She let the challenge stand for a moment before ducking her head. "Whatever."

"Good. Clock, Kid, Gallant, you're with me in front of the bank, alright? Let's get into position, everyone!"

Vista immediately span on her heel, the distance between her and the nearest rooftop dizzyingly dropping to almost nothing. Sophia didn't wait, bounding across the distorted space as the young girl began compressing the gap between them and the next roof, simultaneously allowing the space beneath Sophia to expand at just the right moment. It was a frightening display of Missy's power, but she couldn't help but smile at the obvious payoffs for working as hard as the girl did.

Two rooftops further, Vista slowed. "Here?"

"Do it," Sophia grunted, and watched as a windowsill bent and ballooned outwards into a perfectly formed bridge. "Nice," she acknowledged, doing her best to hide her surprise from the younger Ward.

A blink later and Sophia was mentally kicking herself, turning and darting across the protrusion before shimmering into smoke, passing through the window in perfect silence.

 _What about Brian?!_ She angrily berated herself as she landed, taking a few deep breaths to focus before allowing her body to return to normal. One crossbow she clinched to her belt at the back, the other lifted in a two hand grip for balance as she started towards the door as stealthily as she could manage. It'd be easier to stay in her shadow state the whole time, but even with Armsmaster's latest upgrades the earpieces suffered when she used her power for long periods of time.

Inside the bank, it was unnaturally quiet - a side effect of her brother using his power heavily. Sophia stepped cautiously out of the office room she'd arrived in and glanced towards where she thought the stairs should be, racking her brains for memories of brief visits to the bank over the last year.

It didn't take her long. At the next intersection, Sophia turned right and came face to face with the rolling wall of smoke that marked the boundary of her brother's power.

"This is Shadow Stalker," Sophia murmured as she keyed the mic, taking several steps away from the border. "I'm inside, Grue's blanketed the whole fucking place with his power. Can't see a damn thing into it either."

After a second's pause, Aegis replied. " _Damn, I was hoping you could find out where they are in there. He's done the same thing to the windows out front. This makes things more difficult-"_

"Hey-!" Before Sophia could react beyond a started exclamation, the wall of Brian's darkness bulged outwards suddenly before billowing down the corridor towards her. In moments, she was surrounded completely, forced to revert to her shadow state as the comforting weight of his and her power interacting settled around her bones.

 _Goddamnit, Brian! What the fuck is he thinking?_

* * *

In the deluge outside, Aegis turned to Gallant, hand dropping from his ear.

"What-?"

The other Ward was already shaking his head. "I don't know! She was there, as angry as usual and then a burst of surprise and now I can't sense her, just like the rest of the people in there. _Shit!_ "

It was uncharacteristic for the chivalrous Gallant to swear, but Aegis could sympathise. His emotion-sense made Dean a valuable team player in small-sized engagements because he could track down any villains or criminals by sight alone. But here… Grue's darkness rendered his power as useless as it did their communications.

"Yeah," he found himself agreeing. " _Shit._ Okay, let's assume the worst - Grue or one of the other Undersiders somehow found her. Looks like we can't afford to wait about any more! We need to get in there and get Shadow out - the Undersiders just ran out of time! Clock, Kid, let's-!"

The crash of the bank doors being flung open interrupted Aegis before he could finish, and several terrified looking civilians ran out. Before they could reach the heroes, the darkness rushed outwards after them and they were once again hidden from sight.

Carlos shook his head, emphatically repeating: " _Shit._ " He started towards the edge of the darkness anyway, followed by the rest of his team. It was all he could do not to drift into the air, but the sight of the pure-white costume he was wearing prevented such a move.

The two-tonne monstrous beast barrelled out of the darkness full-pelt and lifted the boy off his feet violently. He barely had time to see a swarm of bugs drop onto Clockblocker before his face met the concrete of the bank steps _hard_ and consciousness momentarily fled.


	7. Chapter 7

Inside the bank, Sophia hesitated. If she turned around now, it would only take a moment or two to reach the furthest extent of Brian's darkness on this floor, and she'd be able to switch back to normal and contact the other Wards. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, she could see the gloomy, watery light filtering through the darkness where it ended, but looking forward revealed nothing beyond the first few metres of the hallway fading into a murky, impenetrable black.

Unlike most people, Sophia _could_ actually see in Brian's cloud, just not very well. After waiting an agonising half a minute, she growled a few choice curse words and started forward cautiously, moving as slowly as she pretended to be in this form. It wouldn't look good for her to stumble out of the cloud and faceplant because she was moving too fast and couldn't get her legs underneath herself in time.

 _Last time that happened Brian didn't let me live it down for a week._

A junction emerged from the thick haze ahead of her, and Sophia paused again, trying to remember the rushed briefing before she and the other Wards had piled into the PRT vans and set off. If she was remembering correctly, going left here would…

As she stepped into the junction properly, the darkness to her left started twisting with the characteristic violence that indicated Brian was letting it fade away. Just as it fell away completely, a figure bounded forwards into the now-clear space and pointed a gun at her.

"What the fuck?" Sophia blinked, voice distorted slightly. "Tattletale!"

The other girl threw a look over her shoulder. "Gotta be quick, act along, okay? Pretend you're really being held at gunpoint here, I told our newest member I could deal with you 'cause bullets hurt when- fuck, I didn't know they actually did."

"Hurts _more,_ " Sophia clarified sharply. "Not enough to stop me."

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me at all, though you and Brian really have to let me take a look at that interaction sometime. Mind, uh, sticking to the plan here?"

Sophia glared at her, but slowly lowered the crossbows. "Alright, what? You know how fucking dangerous this is, if Gallant-"

"Don't have to worry about him, I had Grue keep the darkness surrounding us so he can't see through. We should still be invisible to him. Now," Lisa shifted positions, correcting her wandering aim and pulling an apologetic face. "Sorry about the gun, but Bug Girl's got limited omnipresence - she can tell where all of her bugs are even in Brian's darkness. She saw you coming the moment you shifted back from your normal shadow state, and in Brian's cloud you're even more easily tracked."

Sophia froze before her eyes dropped and she quickly checked her costume for obvious bugs, doing her best not to move in the process. "I don't see anything. You haven't told her about me?"

"That's kinda the point, and no - doesn't seem like she'd be on board," Lisa rolled her eyes behind her mask. "Anyway, stay out of Brian's darkness and stay in your normal shadow form, 'kay? Makes it harder for her to track you."

"Got it, got it. Now, why the fuck are you doing something so risky?"

The villain chuckled. "Gotta clue you in somehow, and Brian coming was too obvious - they'd make that connection in an instant, and even if the Wards somehow miss it Bug Girl won't. She's a bit soft for your brother."

The leer that accompanied that revelation almost made Sophia gag. Lisa quickly explained the plan, only pausing for Sophia to name Glory Girl as the figure on the roof. At that, the villain swore quietly and stared off into the middle distance for a long moment, before a distinctly foxlike grin split across her face.

"I think I can handle that."

Sophia took an exaggerated step back as Lisa stepped forwards, knowing the other girl would pick up the disbelief from the gesture even before she spoke. "You? She'd pulp you the moment you opened your wise-cracking mouth - God knows it's hard enough for _me_ to resist doing it."

Lisa shrugged. "Ha ha, very funny, but yeah - trust me on this one, okay? Brain beats brawn every time. Now, you need to engage Brian like usual, make it look vicious and try and keep to the front of the bank away from any of the hostages; bonus points if the Wards see you two going at it. I know what you two are like when you get into your spars, throwing each other all over the place."

"Gotta look real, right?"

"Think you can manage it?"

Sophia laughed darkly, left hand hefting one of her crossbows in anticipation. "I'll have to."

"Not the most reassuring thing you could've said right there but you'll do fine," Lisa returned, before throwing a glance over her shoulder and frowning. A cloud of bugs was gathering there, swarming together to form a cloud nearly as dense and thick as the one surrounding them. "Rachel's engaging your lot outside with Alec and Bug Girl's help…"

Again she hesitated, and Sophia couldn't help but frown herself. Lisa's eyes hadn't left the cloud of bugs behind her, and for good reason - whatever intelligence had kept the ball of flying insects together seemed to be… slipping.

"Lisa?" she asked quietly, shifting nervously in place. Her hands, resting at her sides, itched to wrap themselves around the triggers of her crossbows, but Sophia forced herself to remain calm. Tranq bolts wouldn't do any good against bugs, and her second load-out would just get her in trouble with the PRT. The other girl spun round, as if remembering she was there.

"Fuck, I gotta go. Go… left, then left, then right and take the third door on the left, should put you right over the lobby and well outside the darkness!"

With that, the blonde turned on her heel and darted off, the clouds of rolling jet fog parting in front of her as they had done before. Sophia stared after her, immobile, until the darkness coiled around itself and her in one smooth billowing movement. The heavy weight of the familiar interaction settled across her body again, and she shut her eyes to save herself the dizzying shift in perspective as the shadows at her core compressed and shifted sluggishly against Brian's power. Her skin crawled, a soft tingling sensation right at the surface where streamers of her shadow mixed and merged with twisters of Brian's. The sensation calmed her, and after a couple of deep, if unneeded, breaths Sophia turned to the leftmost hallway and set off.

* * *

The darkness spread through most of the second floor, and at one stairwell Sophia could see it extending upwards as well. It was difficult for Brian to fill spaces of this kind of volume normally, which meant he must have started pumping out the thick shadow the moment he and the rest of his team entered the bank. Lisa's directions were true, however, and by the time she'd taken the first right the boundary between normal space and Brian's cloud slowly grew from a faint lightening of the darkness ahead to the tattered boundary and then Sophia was clear, gasping slightly as her human form rushed up from her core to reimpose itself over her body.

 _I hate that feeling,_ she grouched, letting the cool wave of her normal transformation wash over her as she darted from the corridor to the indicated door. Once through, Sophia found herself at the front of the bank. Here, Brian's darkness didn't stretch high enough to obscure the sight of the ongoing conflict on the road outside.

"Oh for fucks sake," she mumbled under her breath, eying the walls around the windows. Electrical wires ran through them like veins through skin, and even the glass panes had wiring fanning out from alarm systems in the corners. Obviously the Bay's biggest bank took its security - or at least its front facing security - seriously.

On the other hand, it prevented Sophia from jumping into the fray, if it could be called such a thing. As she watched, Kid Win picked himself up off the floor and leapt onto his hover board, flying in a gentle loop over the battlefield and peppering one of the three mutated dogs with red-tinted lasers to no obvious effect. A moment later, his left foot seemed to twitch and the Tinker crashed face-first out of the sky into the windscreen on one of the PRT vans, cracking it severely as he bounced to the floor. Sophia heard a cackle from a room or two away, and shook her head. Alec was obviously enjoying himself at Chris's expense.

The remaining three Wards at the front of the bank were playing keep-away with all three dogs. Aegis, the white costume he'd adorned now shredded, looked significantly worse for wear but maintained his divebomb-cum-human meatshield approach, slamming into one of the beasts that was about to pounce on Gallant as he retreated from another. The dog, to its credit, seemed barely phased by the high velocity human missile, and twisted its head almost a hundred and eighty degrees to snap at him. Several PRT troopers threw themselves out of the way as the pair, still trading blow for bite, tumbled into the side of the other PRT van and upended it.

Clockblocker staggered slightly as he stretched out into a full-length dive for the dog, aiming to tag its tail, but fell short. Before the Ward could pull himself to his feet and try a second time, darkness flooded the road again and most of the combatants were hidden.

Sophia rested her head against the cool glass, feeling her forehead slip through ever so slightly. "For _fucks_ sake," she repeated again with feeling.

"- _talker?_ " Her earpiece crackled and spat static.

"Vista?"

There was a pause as the younger heroine sneezed. " _Oops… Uh, wh-... ng on?"_

 _Damnit, the earpiece is falling apart already_. Sophia briefly wondered if her denser state in Brian's darkness had accelerated the decay before putting such thoughts aside and focusing on the battle in front of her.

"Front of the bank, everyone's engaging Bi-Hellhound's dogs and getting wrecked. Grue keeps covering the place with his fucking darkness, I'm gonna go find the bastard."

Sophia didn't _quite_ hold her breath as she waited for the response, but it was a close-run thing. " _Okay, but be ca-..._ "

The younger girl's voice cut into static again, and Sophia angrily tapped an insubstantial finger against her ear in the hopes of fixing the bud. There were two sharp pops and then a yell that coincided with Gallant being bodychecked out of the shifting mass of shadow on the road by one of the dog's long prehensile tails, before the earpiece gave up the fight completely and started hissing static. With a grunt, she extracted it and flicked it into the wall, waiting for the soft _crack_ as it imploded the second her own shadow wore off.

 _At least the damn thing lasted this long._ She was quietly thankful for that - maintaining a decent cover would have been all but impossible otherwise.

Turning her attention to the floor, Sophia reached up and twisted a dial next to the lenses of her mask. With a dizzying twist in perception the tinker-tech highlighted all of the electrical wiring below her, and Sophia cautiously allowed herself to drift downwards between three thickly pulsing conduits of energy. As she alighted on the first floor, she turned to the window again, but Brian had covered these with his power and apart from a few metres on the other side of the glass she could see nothing.

 _This is going to shit far too quickly_ , she growled to herself, prowling across the room to a corner with only one strand of electrical wiring. A brief check on her crossbows told her both clips were full and waiting to be used - logically, she knew that anyway, but the routine check helped calm her nerves. Her future in the Wards depended on how realistic she and Brian could make the next few minutes look.

Sophia hesitated, then dropped to her knees. Sometimes the strong got away with barging into a fight unannounced, and other times they didn't. Today, she'd play it safe. Manipulating her power's innate limiters, she kept her legs and hands substantial enough to hold her weight above the floor and cautiously ducked her head down through the concrete. There was a moment of disorientating blankness as her senses automatically cut off, and then she was through.

The room below was in chaos. Brian, in full costume as Grue, stood by the door, staring intently out into the rolling black mists of his power, occasionally twitching as he manipulated parts of it for his team's benefit. Lisa was crouched next to a girl in a dark, skin-tight costume that Sophia didn't recognise at first, but when the blonde girl shifted to look at the hostages huddled off to one side she caught a glimpse of a scintillating mass of _things_ crawling over the carapace of the girl's armour.

 _Bug girl_.

Sophia pulled her head back through the ceiling quickly, worried the apparently semi-omniscient cape would notice her arrival, but after thirty tense seconds no one stormed into the room. Even more cautiously than before, she pushed her head through the floor again and focused on the pair of villains. Lisa had been distracted by the bugs earlier and left in a hurry - did that mean something was wrong? Now that she thought about it, the girl _did_ look to be in pain and the bugs around her didn't look like they were moving with any human intelligence. Lisa yelled something to Brian, who wheeled around and jogged across the lobby, dropping to one knee next to the mass of insects.

"Shit!" That was her brother's voice - Sophia could hear him swearing from her corner of the ceiling. Whatever was happening, it wasn't going the Undersider's way. She'd have to act fast, distract Brian and hopefully the rest of the Wards long enough for them to get clear. It was going to be a close-run thing.

Taking one last deep breath to steel her nerves, Sophia shut her eyes and pushed her transformation as far as it would go. The icy sensation prickling her skin built to a crescendo of biting cold as she slipped through the wire-free section of the floor in an instant before reversing the flow of her power, drawing herself in as she landed in the classic Alexandria pose - half crouched with one hand pressed against the floor.

Brian span round almost immediately as her feet landed in the darkness pooling along the floor and the bitter chill left her bones in favour of the soft weight of their interactions. "Shit! It's Shadow Stalker!"

She didn't give him a chance to say more, bursting into motion even as one crossbow came up. The bolt went wide by mere inches as Brian threw himself sideways, forewarned by her deliberate hesitation before pulling the trigger. Several bugs started moving in her general direction, but in her denser alternate state Sophia ignored them like the nuisances they were. Brian was on his feet again, turning to face her with a carefully telegraphed right hook that she avoided by dropping to her knees, slipping under his guard and slamming her other crossbow into the back of his leg as she passed.

He didn't go down, instead going with the impact and spinning on the spot whilst darkness rolled down his arms like thick oil. A foot lashed out, slamming into her chest and forcing her backwards, but the blow barely registered to Sophia. She knew she outclassed him, and so did he, but this wasn't about winning. One crossbow fell from limp fingers as she pretended to gasp for breath, shoving herself backwards and into the shadows clinging to the walls. In this state there was no way she was gaseous enough to slip through the walls, but she _could_ push herself halfway at a pinch. Brian's next haymaker crunched into the facade behind her, eliciting a yell of pain as he stumbled backwards.

Sophia flowed gracefully to her feet, pushing the advantage. With her remaining crossbow, she aimed a blow for his shoulder that forced him sideways to evade, into the vicious upwards kick that nearly clipped his helmeted head. He took one step backwards, and then another, pausing to regard her carefully. She allowed him the moments respite, lifting the crossbow and pointing it at the still-immobile Bug Girl.

"Don't move, asshole, or I'll nail the girl."

Brian laughed once, and lunged. It was a weird sensation being body-checked when her opponent fell _into_ her body by a few millimetres, but they'd trained with their powers rigorously. As Brian turned the lunge and grab into a well-executed throw, Sophia felt herself leaving his darkness, and the icy sensation exploded outwards as shadows replaced the thick clinging smoke of her other form. She drifted across the bank, returning to human long enough for her brother to turn and gesture, cloaking her in darkness.

Undeterred, Sophia pushed forwards, launching a flurry of blows that had Brian stepping backwards out of his darkness. He managed to knock the other crossbow away, but suffered for it as she drove a punch into his gut. Brian dropped messily, gasping for air, and Sophia felt a flare of panic as she realised she might have overdone it. In this state, she was stronger for her density, but it meant regulating her attacks a lot more than usual. Around them the darkness began to fade as her brother rolled onto his front, still heaving gulps of air into his lungs.

 _Shit! Make this believable!_

"Anyone else?" She barked, turning to face Lisa and Bug Girl. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed one of the three mutated dogs frozen in midair, with Bitch running a fighting retreat against Gallant, Clockblocker and Aegis. Vista's power was in evidence, but the organic nature of the combatants limited her effectiveness.

A cough from behind her alerted her to her mistake. "I'll go for another round."

 _Goddamnit Brian, couldn't let me look good, huh?_

Her brother's leg took both feet from under Sophia in a smooth sideways swipe as he used his hands to spin himself around before flipping to his feet. She automatically let her shadow state burst outwards, only to notice Alec a moment too late as he stepped out from a bank of darkness with his taser already crackling. At least, she thought it was the taser - it could easily have been the teen cackling madly at his next opportunity to run several thousand volts through her.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking-!"

She was dimly aware of Lisa jumping to her feet and pointing at one of the hostages, yelling something Sophia couldn't make out through the pain as her power struggled to deal with the electricity pulsing through her body. Then, in a thunderous roar, the two remaining dogs arrived in the bank with Rachel astride the first, and consciousness seemed to take a brief hiatus as Brian blocked out the road again.

* * *

Full awareness returned, and with it came the stinging twinge of being tased yet again, although in her extra-dense state it hurt far less than in her shadowy state. Sophia growled deep in her throat and pulled herself to her feet cautiously. She was off to one side of the room, away from the hostages, and the still ongoing battle. From the looks of things, she'd only been unconscious for half a minute, if that. With a chuckle, she made the transition to her other state in case someone noticed her awakening, and glanced around hurriedly.

At the front of the bank, a full-scale brawl had broken out in the time she'd been out of action, the conflict between the dogs and the Wards now inside the lobby itself. Brian slipped between columns of darkness, sweeping Gallant's legs from underneath him every opportunity he got and demonstrating just how much his training had paid off. The suited Ward could barely keep his feet for ten seconds before his opponent sent him tumbling to the floor again, and his emotion blasts dissipated uselessly against Brian's darkness. One dog had Aegis in its jaws, repeatedly throwing him against the wall at Bitch's command, whilst Clockblocker seemed to be making no progress up the steps at the front of the bank as his legs betrayed him repeatedly.

Sophia assessed the situation, doing her best to keep her emotions under control as she took in the cluster-fuck the Bank had descended into. Lisa was almost at the hostage she'd indicated, whilst Bug Girl was still out of action. As much as she wished she could help Brian, her duty was to the Wards, and anything else would bring suspicions down on her head. As it was she hoped Gallant was too distracted by the darkness and Brian's continuous attacks to notice her emotions.

 _God knows I'd be fucked if he was paying me attention_ , she briefly mused, before crushing that and other dangerous thoughts under her metaphorical boot-heel. There were more important matters at hand.

Both crossbows were nowhere to be seen, so instead of ducking and weaving whilst making use of her mobility to avoid combat, Sophia threw herself straight into the fray. Alec managed a startled yell as she swiped the taser from his hands and turned it on him, but managed to disrupt her hold on it just before the prongs made contact. The sceptre skittered away across the floor and Sophia pulled the other teen into a painful armlock.

"This is for tasing me again, dumbass," she murmured in his ear, just before her whole body convulsed and she was forced to revert to her shadow state to end Alec's influence on her. They faced off again, he making a quick gesture to send Clockblocker smashing to the floor with a painful crunch. Over his shoulder, Sophia could see the third dog through the wavering darkness as it reanimated, landed, shook its head in confusion before orientating on the sounds issuing from the bank.

She couldn't suppress a wince as it ploughed straight into a recovering Aegis and flung him like a ragdoll into Gallant, sending the two heroes sliding across the floor in a tangle of limbs.

Alec eyed the downed pair. "Well look at that, I guess villainy really does pay. Not every day you get to see heroes in that kind of state, huh?"

Sophia didn't honour the comment with a retort, instead choosing to kick him in the balls; the target had absolutely _nothing_ to do with her repeat tasing at his hands. At the last moment her leg jerked sideways, foot catching Alec in the thigh as they both crashed to the floor.

It put her in a perfect position to see the wall next to them explode outwards as a white streak slammed through at high speeds, clipping Brian's shoulder before sweeping up both Lisa and the girl she was struggling with. The trio vanished through the doors at the back of the lobby, leaving them swinging on their shattered hinges before finally coming to rest half-shut.

"Glory Girl, no!" Someone who might have been Gallant yelled, but Sophia barely paid him any attention. Brian was back on his feet, if unsteadily, one hand pressed against his arm in an effort to stem the ruby blood bubbling out from a rent in his costume where he'd hit the wall badly. The bug girl was fending off Clockblocker behind him, swinging a baton into his face only for him to freeze it dead in the air.

Brother and sister made eye contact through their respective masks, and he made a jerky motion with his head. The message was clear.

 _Fuck you, Brian,_ Sophia mentally yelled at her irresponsible, stupid, idiotic _imbecile_ of a brother, before turning and sprinting for the doors into the back of the bank and the three capes beyond _. He never lets me fucking look after him, stupid big brother syndrome thinking he's gotta be the tough guy all the time!_

A gunshot rang out from behind the doors just as Sophia ran straight through them in her shadow state, not willing to slow down for anything. Her mental tirade faltered and died as she took in the scene in front of her: a bloodied Lisa to one side, standing with her gun leveled at a horrified Glory Girl and another frizzy haired teen Sophia was only now recognising as Panacea. There was a moment of hesitation, as if everyone in the room was holding their breath.

"Sorry," Lisa mumbled.

The pistol stopped shaking as if by magic as the villainess took a steadying breath, locked onto Glory Girl's forehead. Sophia barely had the chance to notice a bullet already flattened against the blonde's tiara before Lisa pulled the trigger again, the report deafening her to everything but the other Dallon's scream.

" _ **Vicky!"**_

 _Oh fuck me_.


	8. Chapter 8

Glory Girl stumbled backwards, hand pressed against her head before her heel hit a section of a broken desk and she collapsed in a heap. Sophia barely had time to realise the blonde heroine was still alive before Panacea let out another scream and flung herself across the distance between her and Tattletale.

 _Shit,_ Sophia berated herself, and burst into a dead sprint, flickering between states to pick up as much speed in the short distance as possible. Panacea was faster, vaulting another broken desk in an ungainly display of acrobatics before stretching her hands out, seeking contact with bare flesh.

As fast as the renowned healer was, Lisa was faster. Even as Panacea took the final pace in closing the distance, the costumed villainess twisted on one heel to avoid her desperate lunge. Panacea stumbled, finding herself suddenly without anything to brace against, and Lisa jumped on the opportunity. An arm snaked out, wrapping tightly around the other girl's neck and stopping her dead.

"Glory Girl, I'd appreciate it if you _didn't_ try and kill me whilst I've got a gun pressed against your sister's skull - same to you, Shadow Stalker," Lisa's voice was pained, and Sophia belatedly remembered the blood soaking into her costume from where Glory Girl had flung Lisa away from Panacea. She did her best to abort her sprint by swapping into her alternate state, sliding across the floor for a short distance to end up only five or so metres away from the pair. For her part, the frizzy haired girl froze, twisting against Lisa's hold to stare at her sister as she dizzily sat up, still pressing a hand against her forehead.

"Vicky!"

Glory Girl blinked to focus her eyes before her expression changed and she leapt to her feet unsteadily, reaching out to catch herself on the already destroyed desk and sending her hand straight through the wooden surface like damp cardboard. "Shit! Ames!"

Lisa tightened her hold slightly, cutting off any reply. "She's fine. You, on the other hand, are concussed. New experience, miss Invincible? It was a good front, I gotta say - even had me going for a bit with the whole "Alexandria Package" deal, but I worked it out just after you _dump tackled_ me through a fucking bank door."

Sophia threw a glance at Glory Girl and saw she'd frozen, outstretched hand clenched against the wreckage of the desk as she glared at Lisa and her sister.

"A shield that shorts out after a big enough hit," Lisa continued, wincing in pain as Amy shifted. "Stay _still_ , idiot. Do you want this thing to go off and kill you? Because then I die, and I really don't want that."

"Let her go, Tattletale," Glory Girl spat, standing up straighter. "If you hurt her, how do you think this'll play out? You're so smart, you tell me - not just the Wards, not just the Protectorate, but New Wave, all the heroes and villains she's ever healed after an Endbringer battle. Think you and your pathetic team can take on the whole world?"

Lisa choked out a laugh, turning a way for a moment to spit blood. Her eyes never left her opponent, and the pistol remained pressed against Amy's jaw. "Nah, but that's not gonna happen. What _is_ gonna happen is you're gonna walk yourself into that vault and stay there unless you want me to redecorate the ceiling red, capiche? I let you live once, but now I've got it figured out you're just as vulnerable as anyone else is."

"Ames…"

Again, it was Lisa who answered. "She won't do anything. Too timid - no, too scared of people realising, isn't that right? I know all of her secrets better than she does. Besides, my costume is too thick, she can't get to me even if she wanted to."

"Don't fucking bet on it," her hostage spat, prompting laughter from the captor.

Across the room, Glory Girl threw a helpless glance at Sophia, who merely stared back mutely, shrugging her shoulders as if to say ' _I'm useless here_ '. In a situation like this, there was nothing she could do - even Armsmaster, a man with about as many social graces as a dead skunk, was trained to de-escalate hostage crises over taking direct action. Regardless of the fact, she moved - more to keep up the image than out of any hope of forcing Lisa to release Panacea - taking several steps sideways to line the crossbow up with Lisa. As she expected, the other girl merely rotated her captive slightly, forcing the healer to shuffle sideways.

"Don't push it, Stalker," Lisa warned, and she halted, slowly lowering the crossbow again.

 _What the fuck are you doing, Lisa?!_

Again, Glory Girl shifted in place, clenching both fists angrily at her side. "If you surrender now, I'll try to get you leniency. Just let my _sister go!_ I'll even stay where I am."

"I don't think so," Lisa tutted, sweat breaking out across her brow as Glory Girl's aura racked the tension up another couple of notches. Sophia momentarily wondered how much it was costing her to abuse her power like this. "You don't have that kind of authority, and any idiot could see you're lying. The moment I let her go you'll throw yourself across the room and smash me against the wall like so much pulp - isn't that what you do to all those poor helpless gang bangers? The only reason you're not in jail yourself, Glory Hole, is because your sister covers for you. And let's be honest here, with your concussion, are you _sure_ you'd miss Amy and hit me?"

The heroine lurched forwards angrily at that, but as if to emphasise Lisa's point she misjudged her footing and stumbled again, only catching herself by drifting away from the ground completely. Sophia watched as what little colour remaining in the girl's face fled before shaking her head in anger.

"Tattletale," she finally spoke, keeping her voice to a low growl. "Don't be fucking stupid. The Protectorate will be here soon - let her go and come quietly."

"No," Lisa seemed to deliberate for a moment before gesturing quickly with the gun at Glory Girl. "I think I'll stick with my plan. The vault, _now_. Or I start digging through all these secrets I really shouldn't know, and let me tell you - darling Ames here isn't going to like what I find."

Sophia watched as the rising star of Brockton Bay slowly collapsed in on herself, staring helplessly at her sister. After a long moment, she slowly turned, and - one eye on Lisa the entire time - drifted towards the open vault door.

"Thank you," Lisa mumbled, so quietly that only Panacea and Sophia heard amidst the door being dragged almost shut by a very angry Glory Girl. "That was killing my head. Now, you-" Here she turned to face Sophia, "-are going to move backwards three steps. I don't _want_ to hurt the world's most famous healer any more than anyone else does, fuck I even _like_ her, but if you push me I will do what it takes to keep myself alive. Clear?"

Sophia scoffed. "You're full of shit."

The sound of a safety slowly being removed seemed to lock the hostage's body up again in terror as she did her best to stare at the weapon pressed against her lower jaw.

"Try me," Lisa ground out. Sophia had to suppress a chuckle at her acting skills - after being accused of being full of shit, the other girl had revealed exactly how full of shit she was by demonstrating the fact that Glory Girl had been conned into the vault by a safetied pistol, and she was pretty sure Panacea hadn't even realised. Externally, however, there was an image to think of. Slowly, reluctantly, Sophia took three steps backwards and cleared the route to the doors leading into the lobby.

Lisa smiled, just enough to show her she'd noticed the amusement. "Good. Now, Panacea - Amy - I want to have a word with you, and with little miss Ward here to watch I know you won't do anything to fuck me over. Whilst I'm at it, undo whatever you did to my teammate's spiders, please. No brains my ass, that's a straight _power_ interaction you're messing with."

"Get fucked."

"Thank you, the headache was killing her," Lisa replied, cocking an eyebrow above her mask. "And also, sorry but you're not my type."

Panacea had gone suddenly rigid at the villains' words, and Lisa took the opportunity to release her and move clear, pistol still lined up with the back of the healer's head. Within moments, she'd stepped sideways, putting the other girl between her and the vault whilst keeping it difficult for Sophia to feasibly launch an attack on her.

"That's what I thought," she continued sadly. "You're angry right now, but you've got a lot of shit going on in your head. Too much shit. Now excuse me for taking an interest but I was bargaining for my life back there and I couldn't help but notice a lot of things - kind of how my power works. And you… Well."

Panacea opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. After a moment, she shut it and swallowed before trying again. Her voice was weak, barely audible. "Shut up. _Please_."

"Yeah, no worries - not gonna piss off the 'healer' who could create a goddamn plague keyed to my genetic material, no sir." She even did the air quotes, her pistol making the gesture ungainly. "All I'm saying is _talk_ to someone. You're going to fucking explode, Amy, and when you do it's not gonna be pretty. For _anyone_. I might be a villain but even I care about small things like, oh, I don't know, the safety of everyone else on this planet?"

Panacea's shoulders were trembling, but she still turned to face the villain behind her. "A-and you just know all t-that, huh?"

"I'm fucking psychic, okay? I know all about your daddy issues, your family problems, your _sister…_ Now, I'm not gonna say anything else - I don't need to, you're a smart girl - so walk. I'm right behind you and the gun is still pointed at the back of your head. Shadow Stalker, don't try anything. I'll know before you do, and bam. You get the picture, yeah? No one wants to be responsible for the death of the world's premier healer."

Sophia nodded jerkily, focused on the healer as she started to shuffle towards the exit. Throughout the confrontation, she'd looked scared, maybe even terrified, but angry all the same. Now… Now, Panacea looked broken. Her eyes didn't leave her feet as she walked towards the door, and her shoulders looked as if the weight of the world had suddenly been laid upon them.

 _What did you do?_ Sophia glared at Lisa, hoping the other girl would pick up on the angry thought. If she did, the Thinker didn't acknowledge it at all.

"Panacea?" Sophia finally addressed the frizzy-haired girl directly as she passed her. "I'm sorry. Next time I see the bitch, I'll put a tranq dart or three in her ass."

 _There you go, ignore_ _ **that**_ _one._ She'd definitely be having words with Lisa next time she saw her, and if the explanation wasn't good enough maybe tranq darts _would_ be involved. As it stood, Sophia could only watch helplessly as the villain and the hero walked out into the lobby, leaving her standing motionless - and useless - behind them.

* * *

Sophia barely hesitated as the doors the duo had just passed through gave up the fight against gravity and crashed to the floor, turning and diving for the vault and the time bomb waiting to happen inside. It had only taken her a moment to put herself in Glory Girl's shoes and Aisha in Panacea's, and her decision was made - stop the angry teen capable of bench-pressing a tank from doing something _really_ stupid.

She was nearly at the vault door, flickering back to human form to pass through the small gap, when the entire metal slab shook once, tumbled away from its seating in the wall and nearly took her head off were it not for a last-instant application of her ability.

"Where," Glory Girl growled in a tone that echoed off the small room's walls to magnify itself tenfold, one arm hefting a large metallic strip of the vault's interior wall like a weapon, whilst her eyes spat fire and lightning. "Is my sister?"

"Your side, dumbass. Put the club down."

The wave of terror hit her like a wall, turning her legs to jelly and forcing her to her knees. Glory Girl stood before her with her platinum blonde mane framing her head like flickering St Elmo's Fire, her very presence sending icy cold spikes of fear through Sophia's heart. She'd heard about the aura, of course - most in the Bay knew of it to some degree - but for it to be this bad?

She took a shaky breath, teeth chattering. "Glory G-Girl! You dumb fucker, what a-are you trying to do here, get your sister, you, me and the Wards killed? Or m-maybe you'd like the psychic thinker out there to work out you're after her ass, and take the other fucking route - the one where _Ames_ doesn't make it out the other side in one piece. Remember that?"

Slowly the pressure slackened, and although the sense of terror didn't quite fade Sophia was able to pull herself to her admittedly unsteady feet. Glory Girl seemed to shake herself loose of her anger for a moment, staring at the Ward in front of her like they'd never met.

Then…

"You didn't stop Tattletale."

It wasn't so much a statement as it was an accusation, and Sophia fought to keep her wince from showing in her body language. The pressure of the aura was back, building to a crescendo once more as cold sweats broke out across her skin.

"I guess you really are a dumb blonde, huh?" Sophia spat as she shoved her masked face right up into the blonde's own, and half-smiled half-grimaced at the resultant flinch. The aura seemed to lessen slightly at its owner's shock.

 _Now to sell this._

"Your sister's fine, I just couldn't do anything because that bitch had her at gunpoint; if you keep fucking around like this though, she might not be for much longer. I came to get you rather than your sister because you're the one with a combat applicable power, right? Amy doesn't do brains, she just heals."

 _There's no way in hell I'm telling you what Lisa said about_ that _particular detail._ Sophia knew she wasn't the best when it came to managing people, but Brian had told her that if you didn't know how someone would react to something, it was best to wait until you did.

A pause. "... Right."

"Okay, so - you were angry and, if I didn't come get you," Sophia punctuated the statement by prodding the blonde in the chest with her crossbow, "You were likely to do something dumb and get people hurt - including _my_ team. Right?"

This time the pause was even longer, and when the answer came it came with a volume most didn't associate with the blonde bombshell in front of Sophia: almost inaudible.

"Right."

Sophia took another breath and found it markedly easier to breathe as the final vestiges of terror began to ebb. _Must be getting through to her, finally._ "Good, so now I've calmed you down we can go in there and kick ass, right?" After a moment of hesitation, she took a risk. "I… I've got a sister. I can relate."

Glory Girl's smile was not a pretty thing.

"Damn straight."

Turning on her heels, Sophia broke into a run, flickering in and out of shadow state to barrel straight through the ruined office. Glory Girl took to the air barely a moment later, the pair reaching the door into the lobby of the bank at the same moment. There was no hesitation. One hammered through the remaining splinters of wood like an airborne tank, the other diving through the wall next to it as she brought her crossbows up…

Too late. They were too late. Sophia suppressed a snarl as Tattletale ducked her head close to Panacea's ear and muttered something, their proximity drawing Glory Girl's reckless charge to a stumbling halt. Whatever was said, Panacea slipped backwards to land firmly on her ass, and darkness exploded out from Grue just as Sophia pulled the trigger. At the last moment her arm jerked upwards, loosing the bolt into the ceiling.

When the cloud faded, Glory Girl was on her knees next to her sister, the pair locked in a fierce embrace. Of the Undersiders, nothing remained but a few bugs hovering menacingly in a cloud by the door. Within moments, even they seemed to crawl back into the woodwork, leaving the Wards - and the two sisters - alone with the hostages.

"Well," Clockblocker mumbled from his position on the floor, pinned by a baton frozen at his neck. "I think it's safe to say that was a colossal fuck-up and no mistake, huh?"

The chorus of "Shut up, Clockblocker" broke the tension, and slowly hostages started to pull themselves to their feet. The movement broke the spell over the other Wards, who rushed forward, checking for injuries.

After a moment, Clock piped up again. "Uh… someone wanna lend me a hand here?"

Sophia couldn't help but snort at the plaintive tone, watching as Gallant stepped away from Glory Girl to lend their teammate a hand. Free of anything to do for the moment, she let herself relax just slightly, leaning her head against the wall of the lobby as she surveyed the devastation wrought by the battle.

Much of the front of the bank was a wreck. Windows had been shattered, the double doors appeared to have taken a vacation and there was a large hole in one of the walls where Glory Girl had made her dramatic entry. Sophia quietly shook her head.

 _Dumb, dumb, dumb._ Brian, in her opinion, should have known better than this. She looked up to him as her brother, but that didn't stop her from pointing out his faults - usually with a fistfight or two. This… it didn't seem like him. Brian took his job very seriously, and this attack smacked of hasty planning and a lack of preparation. Something else had to be going on in the background.

"Stalker?"

Blinking to clear her thoughts, Sophia turned. "Yeah?"

"Piggot wants us back," Aegis grumbled, already turning away. "Let's go face our chewing out."

She went, unaware of Gallant's eyes on her back as they trooped out of the doors and onto the street. It was still raining, as if to make matters worse, but it wasn't long before two replacement PRT vans rolled up next to their destroyed counterparts. Carlos, Chris and Missy wearily clambered into one whilst Dean held the door of the second for Dennis and Sophia.

"Your sister?"

Sophia hesitated. "Must've left already, didn't see her there. Doesn't make it okay."

Dean merely nodded, pulling the door shut behind him.

* * *

The door to the debriefing room slammed open and a large figure in a tailored suit strode through, clutching a stack of folders under one arm, followed by the imposing form of Armsmaster in one of his earlier suits of armour. Sophia frowned, making a mental note of the downgrade for Lisa's ears later that evening. _I wonder what happened to his latest version?_ Director Emily Piggot made her way around the table and dropped into the chair, which creaked alarmingly. Not a single person in the room dared to even smile.

"This," Piggot growled, opening one of the folders and throwing an array of paperwork onto the table showing pictures of the Bank fight, "Was a shambles. Explain."

Behind her mask Sophia rolled her eyes as Carlos made to stand. The Director waved him back into his seat dismissively.

"Aegis, I understand you have redundant biology, but I can see your _spine_ through your chest. Sit down and let someone with actual lungs explain."

That got a round of laughs. Piggot turned baleful eyes on the other Wards and soon they fell silent.

Dean eventually stood. "We got thrashed, ma'am."

"Anything aside from the obvious?"

With his dented helmet sat on the table in front of him, Sophia got to witness the rare sight of the smooth-as-ice boy blushing. "Ah, that is… The Undersiders changed their usual tactics. We expected them to run at first contact and instead they took the fight to us."

Piggot nodded, gesturing for Armsmaster to pull up a whiteboard. "Good. How so?"

"Hellhound's dogs," Carlos wheezed. "They knew… Dennis and I had switched costumes. Hoped to… bait and switch, tag some of their… muscle."

Sophia bit her lip before interjecting. _Make it believable._

"That's Tattletale. She's a Thinker, said she's psychic but I don't buy it."

Here Piggot lifted an eyebrow in her direction. "Elaborate."

"Well," she shifted in her seat under the Director's gaze. "After I lost comms-"

The Director's lips thinned as she cut across her. "We will be talking about your operational procedures after this meeting, Shadow Stalker. Continue."

"It wasn't my damn fault!" Sophia protested, and to her surprise Armsmaster came to her defense.

"Grue's darkness has been noted to interfere with Shadow Stalker's breaker state, ma'am. My earpieces are designed to survive her usual transition, but I would not be surprised to find them unsuitable for use within Grue's area of effect. PRT teams retrieved the earbud - I will examine it later." His piece said, the Protectorate hero clasped his hands behind his back and returned to his brooding, eyes twitching beneath the visor.

Mollified, Director Piggot shuffled the files in front of her and gestured for Sophia to continue.

"Anyway, after I lost comms I tried to work out what was happening and made the _tactical_ decision to remove Grue from the fight." Sophia smiled at Piggot's look of abject surprise. "Sh- Things went south and Tattletale took Panacea hostage. I was in the room but unable to do anything because she had a gun pressed to Panacea's head."

"What are your observations?"

Sophia made a show of mulling over her thoughts as she tried to work out what she could and couldn't say without giving the game away. "Well… She knew a lot about Panacea just from looking at her."

Armsmaster spoke up. "Cold reading, or perhaps post-cognition."

"Whatever," she retorted with a shrug. "She talked Glory Girl into the vault too."

"Cold reading seems the more likely then," Piggot mused, and Armsmaster turned to the whiteboard, dividing it up into five columns, each headed with the name of a different member of the Undersiders. Bug Girl's column was titled '?'.

Dennis shuddered. "Their new member controls bugs. _Lots of bugs._ "

"Anything else?"

The Ward shook his head, still looking pale. He'd switched costumes from his standard full-body suit, and Sophia got the distinct impression he was regretting the decision with every bone in his body. Bug Girl hadn't gone easy on him.

"In which case," Director Piggot continued, placing her hands on the table in front of her. "Let's move on. Not only did you fail to contain the Undersiders, or capture any of their number-"

Chris piped up. "Grue was injured!"

"- Injured and not in a jail cell, but you also managed to deal tens of thousands of dollars worth of property damage to the building. Civilians watched you fight like brawlers rather than trained capes, and lose. The blow to our PR will have to be mitigated. Armsmaster, see to it that your Wards' pay is docked for the next month."

Director Piggot stood, collected the folders and made for the door. Before throwing it open, she cast one final glance over her shoulder.

"Next time, Gallant, tell your girlfriend to keep out of official Protectorate duty. She's done enough damage as it is."

The doors swang shut behind her with a soft hiss, leaving a dejected Wards team to pull themselves to their feet and start for the locker room. Sophia hesitated, sneaking a glance at her teammates. None seemed interested in her as they trooped past, so she made to follow them.

Gallant waited until Sophia had left before turning to Armsmaster.

"Sir, I think I need to talk to you about something."

The older hero blinked. "I'll have your armour repaired by your next patrol duty, Gallant."

"It's not about that, sir," Dean sighed. "It's about the mole. I think I might know who it is."


End file.
